MARLENE DUMAS THE SOUTH AFRICAN-BORN PAINTER REINTERPRETS FOUND AND FABRICATED IMAGES, STYLISTICALLY COMPRESSING THEM INTO SIMPLE, PAINTERLY, OFTEN SCRUFFY DEPICTIONS OF THE EXTREMES OF HUMAN EMOTION. “Paintings tell stories like zombies walk the earth. I moved slowly from the faces to the bodies. From the eyes to the skin. From the word to the flesh. Snow White wants to compete with the man of sorrows. Snow White has to compete with the man of sorrows.”
MARLENE DUMAS, DORA MAAR (THE WOMAN WHO SAW PICASSO CRY), 2008, OIL ON CANVAS, 311/2x235/8 INCHES, COPYRIGHT MARLENE DUMAS, COURTESY OF ZENO X GALLERY, ANTWERP, PHOTO PETER COX
MARLENE DUMAS, MAMMA ROMA, 2012, OIL ON CANVAS, 113/4x91/2 INCHES, COPYRIGHT MARLENE DUMAS, COURTESY OF PINAULT COLLECTION, PHOTO EDO KUIPERS