Original tape art by Max Zorn · 2023
Caribbean Nights
A red coupe, a second car, a man who keeps his back to us. Caribbean Nights brings the elegance of classic motoring to a palm-lined waterfront, with headlights and reflections holding the scene between evening and night. Max Zorn builds its polished surfaces and deep shadows from hand-cut packing tape on acrylic glass.
- Artist
- Max Zorn
- Year
- 2023
- Medium
- Hand-cut packing tape on acrylic glass
- Size
- 120 × 80 cm (width × height)
- Format
- Original tape art in an illuminated frame
An evening with something left unsaid
The red car fills the foreground, its curves catching the last pale light. Beside it, the man stands perfectly still, hands in his pockets. Lamps recede along the waterfront and the dark palms carry the eye into the distance. The scene has the reserve of classic spy cinema: beautiful machinery, immaculate clothes and very little information about the person at its centre.
Seen closely, the smooth bodywork becomes a construction of overlapping shapes. The same material makes the glowing headlamps, the chrome and the darkness beneath the cars. Light passes through the picture itself; every additional layer of tape changes what reaches the viewer.
In the studio
Making Caribbean Nights
The studio photographs bring the scene back to its physical scale: a hand, a scalpel and strips of translucent tape. Max cuts and lifts small sections while light shines through the acrylic panel, judging the reflections and shadows as they develop.
See more details of the artwork
The making-of film
The Caribbean Nights collection
The Caribbean Nights collection film follows this process across several artworks, including Crossroad. It places the finished image beside the patient work of building it.
Watch Caribbean Nights – The new Tape Art Collection by Max Zorn on YouTube
The artwork in an evening room
In its illuminated black frame, the waterfront becomes part of the room's evening atmosphere. The complete image, the close details and the room photograph show three different encounters with the same composition.
Art for interiors and commissionsIlluminated frames and care
Collecting Max Zorn
Drawn to this atmosphere?
Share Caribbean Nights with Audrey and the team when asking about an artwork or a commission. Its classic cars, tropical setting or quiet suspense can help describe what you are looking for. The release shown in the archive is sold out; the studio can discuss current possibilities.
Caribbean Nights premiered and sold out at SCOPE Miami Beach during Miami Art Week.
To follow new artworks and future opportunities to collect, join Max’s newsletter.
Artwork record and original release
Caribbean Nights appeared in the sold-out Special Sale 2023. The release archive records a composition of 120 × 80 cm, made in brown and coloured packing tape and presented in an LED-lit black wooden frame. Its Similar Originals are individually handmade artworks sharing a composition.
A 2023 Caribbean Nights sold for €8,450 including fees at Digard Auction, Paris, on 2 December 2024, lot 44. View the auction house’s result, or explore Max Zorn’s auction archive.