Marlene Dumas
‘I don’t know if I’ve succeeded, but I’ve always wanted my paintings to be more like movies or other art forms, where the work stimulates discussion in all kinds of directions.’
One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary art, Marlene Dumas (b. 1953 Cape Town) has radically expanded the vocabulary of painting. Many of Dumas’s works emerge from her substantial archive of images, which covers everything from art history to mass media and personal photographs. Her subjects include the crucifixion of Christ, a police mugshot of Phil Spector, portraits of Amy Winehouse, or a dead member of the Red Army Faction. In Lucy (2004) she reimagined the central figure in Caravaggio’s Burial of St Lucy. Drawing upon a range of different traditions, from the gestural language of expressionism to the critical distance of conceptual art, she reclaims different images, transforming them into vibrant, spectral presences. 'Second-hand images', she has said, 'can generate first-hand emotions’. Her fearless gaze absorbs everything with equal intensity, yet her work always returns to the pleasures of looking.
In 2008, the retrospective exhibition Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave, was staged at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, which toured to The Museum of Modern Art, New York and The Menil Collection, Houston. In 2014, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presented the substantial exhibition Marlene Dumas: The Image as Burden, which travelled to Tate Modern, London, and the Fondation Beyeler, Basel. In 2017, Dumas created new Altarpiece for the Annenkirche, Dresden, a permanent installation made in collaboration with Jan Andriesse and Bert Boogaard.
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Marlene Dumas: open-end
Palazzo Grassi, Venice 27 Mar 202227 March 2022–8 January 2023 Palazzo Grassi announces “open-end”, a major monographic exhibition dedicated to Marlene Dumas, due to open to the public on Sunday...Read more -
Marlene Dumas: Le Spleen de Paris
Musée d'Orsay, Paris 12 Oct 2021Marlene Dumas: Le Spleen de Paris and Conversations Musée d'Orsay, Paris. 12 October 2021–30 January 2022 A solo exhibition of work by Marlene Dumas is...Read more -
Marlene Dumas: 2020Solidarity Campaign
22 Apr 2020Marlene Dumas is one of 40 international artists contributing to Wolfgang Tillmans’ 2020Solidarity fundraising campaign, which is making special edition artist posters available for £50....Read more
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Summer Breeze 6 Jul - 11 Aug 2017 Soho Square, Golden SquareThe works at Golden Square reveal how the notion of body is imbued with multiple meanings, including recurring bodies of artwork, or bodies of human subjects themselves. An analyst, an...Read more
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Marlene Dumas / Juan Munoz
Drawings 16 Jan - 17 Apr 2015 Soho SquareJuan Muñoz (1953 -2001) came to international prominence in the mid 1980s with sculptural installations that placed the figure in architectural environments. He has always been a storyteller and his...Read more -
Silver
17 Oct - 17 Dec 2014 Soho SquareSince opening, Frith Street Gallery has emerged as one of the art world’s most interesting forces, instrumental in developing the careers of internationally renowned figures as well as supporting those...Read more -
Marlene Dumas
Forsaken 14 Oct - 26 Nov 2011 Golden SquareThe subjects of these works range from The Crucifixion to images of famous as well as infamous contemporary figures. Forsaken is Dumas’ first solo presentation in the UK since 2004....Read more -
Resonance
The Final Exhibition at 59–60 Frith Street 3 Nov - 21 Dec 2006 Soho SquareFrith Street Gallery was established in 1989 with the intention of exhibiting drawings and works on paper. This exhibition recalls the gallery’s origins, bringing together works by gallery artists and...Read more -
Marlene Dumas
The Second Coming 12 Nov - 23 Dec 2004 Soho SquareFrith Street Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Marlene Dumas. This is the first solo exhibition of Dumas’ work in the UK since MD-Light at...Read more -
0 To 60 In 10 Years
A Decade in Soho - Part II 8 Jul - 13 Aug 1999 Soho SquareJane Hamlyn opened the gallery in 1989 and over the last 10 years, Frith Street Gallery has developed an international programme of painting, photography, sculpture, film and video, doubled its...Read more -
Marlene Dumas
MD - Light 26 Mar - 19 May 1999 Soho SquareThe exhibition is timed to coincide with the publication of Phaidon Press’ new monograph on Dumas, part of their ongoing Contemporary Artists Series. In an exhibition specially conceived for Frith...Read more -
Marlene Dumas, Juan Muñoz, Thomas Schütte
25 Nov 1994 - 21 Jan 1995 Soho SquareThe human figure reoccurs in the work of Marlene Dumas, Juan Muñoz and Thomas Schütte in various guises. By creating works that challenge and question, they are among a number...Read more