Marlene Dumas

Marlene Dumas was born in Cape Town in 1953 and grew up under the apartheid regime in South Africa. In 1976, she moved to Amsterdam, where she still lives and works today. Her experiences under apartheid, along with themes such as oppression, violence, politics and sexuality, continue to have a great influence on her critical thinking. Dumas often makes references to literature and films because of their ability to weave this kind of major theme into a narrative. Her paintings and watercolours merge political discourse, personal experience and references to art history into a richly layered body of work. Dumas typically paints portraits based on photographic material that she pares down into a style that is both minimalist and expressionistic. Often the colours are muted, the contours soft, and sometimes the touch is so loose that an image seems almost abstract, whilst still remaining recognisable.

Dumas exhibited at M HKA’s predecessor organisation, the ICC (International Cultural Centre), and she has worked with the Antwerp gallery Zeno X for almost thirty years. Over time, M HKA has acquired several works by Dumas. Recently, the artist donated a second version of her work Sacrifice, which can be seen here. The original version went to M HKA’s collection exhibition this year in Kyiv.