Talk by Marlene Dumas

The Artist and her Models

Salt Beyoğlu

June 22, 2012 18.30

Marlene Dumas, Models                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Marlene Dumas, <i>Models</i> [Modeller], 1994<br />
<i>Istanbul Eindhoven-SALTVanAbbe: 89’dan Sonra</i> (27 Ocak-6 Nisan 2012) sergisinden<br />
Fotograf: Refik Anadol
Marlene Dumas, Models, 1994

Installation view from İstanbul Eindhoven- SALTVanAbbe: Post ’89
(January 27 - April 6, 2012)

Photo by Refik Anadol

SALT Beyoğlu, Walk-in Cinema



Marlene Dumas will talk about her relationship to the different types of models she uses in her work. Models, a work comprised of 100 drawings by Marlene Dumas from the Van Abbemuseum’s collection, was on view at SALT Beyoğlu as part of the İstanbul Eindhoven-SALTVanAbbe: Post ’89 exhibition.
Working mostly from photographic sources -images torn from magazines and newspapers as well as personal snapshots- Marlene Dumas employs classical modes of representation in Western art, such as the nude or the funerary portrait in her paintings. By working within and also transgressing these traditional historical antecedents, Dumas uses the human figure as a means to critique contemporary ideas of racial, sexual, and social identity. Dumas’ portraits exploit grays, blues and reds, removing subjects from their original context and striping them of any identifiable information. Through her focus on the human figure, Dumas merges socio-political themes with personal experience and art-historical antecedents to create a unique perspective on the most salient and controversial issues facing contemporary society. Her work consistently explores constructions of identity and the fluid distinctions between the public and the private.

In 2008, Dumas’ work was presented in a critically acclaimed retrospective, Measuring Your Own Grave, which was first on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and traveled to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, in 2009. Marlene Dumas: Intimate Relations marked her first solo exhibition in South Africa and was held at the Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, in 2007, and the Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, in 2008. Other institutions which have presented one-person exhibitions of her work include the Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (2008); The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2007); Taidehalli, Helsinki (2005); The Art Institute of Chicago (2003); New Museum, New York (2002); De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art, Tilburg (2002); and The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2001). She has participated in numerous international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (2005, 2003,1995); São Paulo Biennial (1985) and Documenta IX, Kassel (1992).

The talk will be held in English.

This talk is supported by The Mondriaan Fund.
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