Marlene Dumas
dal 30/5/2015 al 5/9/2015
Segnalato da
30/5/2015
Marlene Dumas
Fondation Beyeler, Basel
Her work from the 1970s up to the present. One of the things that distinguish the work of Marlene Dumas is her remarkable blend of immediacy and intimacy. She encounters human beings in her pictures occasionally even in a provocative manner, sometimes with humor.
The exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler
is devoted to the extensive oeuvre of Marlene Dumas, with its
focus on the human body. Offering a unique review of her work from the 1970s up to the present, it is
to date the most comprehensive European retrospective of this eminent South African artist
now based
in Amsterdam. In addition to her iconic paintings and drawings, the show features a selection of
experimental collages from her early work as well as some of her most recent paintings.
One of the things that distinguish the work of Marlene Dumas is her remarkable blend of immediacy
and intimacy. She encounters human beings in her pictures without reservation, occasionally even in a
provocative manner, sometimes with humor. She concedes autonomy to color but her eye and the
image’s focus is always centered on the human figure. Her works impressively show what painting can
still achieve in this day and age, undoubtedly making her one the most significant and interesting
women artists of the present day.
Her individual as well her group portraits display a varied palette of shades and contrasts. Expressive
colors alternate with almost transparent hues that appear to illuminate the canvas from within. At times
her pictures render very fragile, seemingly lifeless beings but then again she does not shy from
depicting mutilated bodies and strikingly expressive faces. Like no other, she shows how artistic beauty
can also relate to scenes of dread and horror. In a row of new, hitherto unseen works she turns her
attention more strongly to the relationship between figure and space.
For many of her paintings and watercolors, Dumas relies on a pictorial archive she began compiling
back in her youth. She often refers to current political crises or pressing societal issues, but her archive
also contains private family photographs, art historical references, as well as press photos. Based on
photographs taken from newspapers and magazines she transforms the templates with her magic touch
of the brush into stirring and gripping, often even sinister paintings on canvas – what the camera time
freezes in photography, Dumas brings back to life in her paintings. Her pictures radiate a compelling
and sensuous power which viewers find hard to evade.
The exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler was developed in close collaboration with Marlene Dumas.
Following a rough chronological order it traces her development as an artist. However, the opening
section of the show follows a different plot. The first room features a number of her key works such as
The Painter (1994), The Sleep of Reason (2009) and The Artist and his Model (2013). In this way the
artist herself guides the visitor through the show with its focus on her unbroken fascination for the
human image in painting.
Marlene Dumas was born in 1953 near Cape Town (South Africa) where she also grew up. In 1976 she
moved to the Netherlands where she still lives and works. Her works are held by museums and private
as well as public collections across the world. Recent key exhibitions include shows at the Haus für
Kunst, Munich (2010/2011), the Museum of Contemporary Art, L. A., and the Museum of Modern Art,
New York (2008), and the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Marugame,
Japan (2007). Dumas participated in DOCUMENTA IX, 1992, and the Venice Biennale in 1995. In
2012 she was awarded the prestigious Johannes Vermeer Prize. The present exhibition is curated by
Theodora Vischer, Senior Curator at the Fondation Beyeler. The show was organized jointly with the
Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, NL, and the Tate Modern in London, UK, albeit with differing
emphases at the different venues. A joint catalogue in English and German is already available
Image: Marlene Dumas, Nuclear Family, 2013, Öl auf Leinwand, 200 x 180 cm, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Sammlung Fondation Beyeler, © Marlene Dumas, Foto: Robert Bayer
Press Contact:
Elena DelCarlo, +41 (0)61 6459721 elena.delcarlo@fondationbeyeler.ch
Media conference on friday, 29 may 2015 at 11am
Opening: Sunday 31 May 2015
Fondation Beyeler
Baselstrasse 101, Basel
Mon - Tue 10am to 6pm
Wed 10am to 8pm
Thu - Sun 10am to 6pm