Marlene Dumas is a contemporary South African painter, whose figurative works have earned her a place among the most influential painters of the 20th and 21st centuries. Marlene Dumas is a contemporary South African painter, whose figurative works have earned her a place among the most influential painters of the 20th and 21st centuries. While planning a retrospective of the work of Marlene Dumas, The Image As Burden, one painting sharply divided staff at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum: those who loved it, and those who didn’t want it in the building.The Neighbour—Dumas’s gentle portrayal of the murderer referred to in the Dutch press as Mohammed B, who killed film director Theo van Gogh in broad … "Marlene Dumas Artist Overview and Analysis". Limited-Edition Prints by Leading Artists. Widely known for the gestural quality and austerity of her oil and watercolor paintings, Marlene Dumas’s work confronts difficult themes from pornography to segregation. 10% off on all your cart items, sitewide! Dumas invited some of the ladies into her studio and took Polaroids for source material. She has commented about this portrait: I have not come to propagate freedom. Working almost exclusively from photographic sources, Dumas draws her subject material from an ever-developing archive of personal snapshots, Polaroid photographs, and thousands of images taken from various print media sources. Oil on Canvas. View Marlene Dumas’s 1,000 artworks on artnet. Marlene Dumas is a South African artist and painter living and working in Amsterdam. Her figurative paintings often depict nude bodies engaged in amorous acts, some of them erotic, some disconcerting. By playing with perspective and the proportionality of these figures, Dumas highlights only what is most … Most Similar 20th Century Drawings (visual works) South Africa 1953– More More options. Her artwork consistently explores constructions of identity … The picture depicts an ordinary young bearded man, likely of North-African descent, who could be anyone's neighbor as the title suggests. The striking portrait is based on a snapshot of Dumas' own daughter, Helena, who was simply finger painting on a hot summer day. Marlene Dumas mainly creates with oil on canvas and ink on paper now. Kochi, India. Lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Marlene Dumas is a contemporary South African painter, whose figurative works have earned her a place among the most influential painters of the 20th and 21st centuries. Dealers. She is naked and eerily luminous with translucent flesh. The generalizing title of "The Painter" adds another layer to consider. (Marlene Dumas, Century 87: Today's Art Face to face with Amsterdam's Past exh. She now works mainly with oil on canvas and ink on paper. Represented by internationally reputable galleries. Artworks. Her figurative paintings often depict nude bodies engaged in amorous acts, some of them erotic, some disconcerting. ‘Naomi’ (1995) is an intriguing painting, half beckoning, half shy. Her images speak more than any words ever could. Marlene Dumas | 25 Artworks | Artworks | WahooArt.com. Biography. With Jen, Dumas crosses the thin line between sex and death. These men could very well be Israelis raising their arms in prayer in front of the iconic Wailing Wall, as the viewer is led on by the work's title in direct juxtaposition to its original source material. Malmö, Konsthall and Turin, Castello di Rivoli, The Particularity of Being Human: Marlene Dumas/Francis Bacon, March-October 1995, pp. News. Events. The artist Marlene Dumas Born Aug 3 1953, Kuilsrivier, South Africa. In the past Dumas produced paintings, collages, drawings, prints and installations. Dumas joined other South African artists engaged actively in diverse forms of political, social and cultural critique and resistance. A parallel can be drawn with Diane Arbus' famous photograph Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, NYC (1962). 27 May – 25 July 2020 & 2 September – 10 October 2020 Know someone who would find this article interesting? By playing with perspective and the proportionality of these figures, Dumas highlights only what is most important—the expression, the point of contact, the epicenter of emotion. In the same series, Dumas also painted a portrait that resembles Osama Bin Laden entitled The Pilgrim. Home Artists Artworks Buy About us Buy 10 prints and get 10% + 20% off on all items. The work is derived from a photograph of Israeli soldiers searching Palestinian men in front of a wall. This painting is based on a photograph of the artist looking over her shoulder. Under this new light, the portrait here tends to be interpreted differently. Dumas' gesture also shows the power of images used to manipulate us by the press and media, especially during armed conflicts. Marlene Dumas was born on August 3, 1953, in the Capital of South Africa, Cape Town. The tension between our fears of appearing racist and our fears of potential danger has become a modern-day reality and Dumas' ability to emphasize this marks a key component of her artistic genius. Marlene Dumas – The Image As Burden exhibition – Image via theguardian.com From Cape Town to Amsterdam. [Internet]. Questioning her own identity, Dumas places herself with humility as a potential perpetrator of evil acts and glances at the viewer as if saying: It could have been me, it could have been you. She looks behind her, to where she comes from, with an ironic smile. Marlene Dumas paintings bloom where words perish. This very controversial image was taken down in the Netherlands and is part of the Man Kind series, one of Dumas' most political series. Dumas' oeuvre is marked by an aesthetic dreaminess derived through the masterful use of creamy oils and watercolor with a decidedly muted application. Her light blue eyes are fixed on something outside the work, and her chin rests on her hand. Through this sly process of elimination, Dumas gives her subjects anonymity and changes the picture's meaning. However, this erotic painting is part of a series related to the theme of death where Dumas paints close-ups of dead bodies. Like most of Dumas' works, Jen is based on a third source, this time a still from the 1970 film Fly by fellow female artist Yoko Ono. I have come to show the disease symptoms of my time. The upper part of the body is bluish while the rest is yellow to white; the face is even paler. With an oeuvre of haunting portraiture that depicts the artist’s friends, models, and prominent political figures, Dumas consistently explores themes of sexuality, political oppression, … It is nearly impossible to look away from this languid lady who invites us to confront our own social norms and sexual taboos, so prevalent in society. Kunsthalle Bern, Marlene Dumas: The Question of Human Pink, July-August 1989, p. 24 (illustrated in color). Oil on canvas - Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. As a white person in South Africa, using self-portrait is a strong political statement, which makes the painting even more powerful. London, Tate Gallery, Art from Europe, April-June 1987, pp. The body here may indeed be a corpse. Dumas in the painting does not seem as light but much more thoughtful. Dec 14, 2008–Feb 16, 2009. It is probably the artist's attention to the medium of watercolor that makes it so special. Dumas was born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Kuils River in the Western Cape, where her father had a vineyard. The piece becomes a symbol of universal suffering instead of a symbol of an individual conflict or war. Today, The Neighbor is said to be the most famous work by Dumas in the Netherlands. Yet, with nothing to clearly identify the portrait as a real criminal, we realize he could simply be another of our "neighbors." Marlene Dumas ’s work was on view as part of the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kochi, India. All Rights Reserved. Oil on canvas - Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Website of Marlene Dumas. ©2021 The Art Story Foundation. The nipple accentuated by a touch of red on white skin offers a sexual overlay to the intended meaning of the film, which is meant to celebrate the human body. This large painting was first exhibited in 2010 in the exhibition Against the Wall at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York. The wall transfers from a place of potential execution or arrest, becoming reminiscent of the most sacred holy site in the old city of Jerusalem. I am a good example of everything that is wrong with my time. The artwork is a prime example of Dumas’ style, both in content and in form. Art historian Emma Bedford notes, "luscious paint alternates with minimalist application and empty ground" and adds about the openly displayed anus, "the focus of so much desire and taboo, [is] deliciously - and humorously - accentuated with a stroke of gold." She currently live… cat., Schuttersgalerij, Amsterdam Historical Museum, Amsterdam, 1987, p.111). This is the official web site for the Mount Tahoma High School Class of 1967 By using such an enlarged image of the face, the artist deviates from the traditional representation of death and focuses on the obscenity of the flesh. And get 10 % off on all items % + 20 % on... As the title suggests she seems to restore a kind of humanity and to! 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