News — Aug 18, 2014

Amsterdam, August 14, 2014 — The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presents Marlene Dumas – The Image as Burden: the most comprehensive retrospective survey of the work Dumas has produced in Europe, with almost 200 paintings and drawings, from private and museum collections throughout the world. After being on show at the Stedelijk, the exhibition will travel to Tate Modern in London and Foundation Beyeler in Basel.

Press preview

You are most welcome to attend the press preview on Friday, September 5, in the presence of Marlene Dumas. Program:

1 pm Registration at main entrance Stedelijk Museum, coffee and tea at the Teijin Auditorium
1.30 pm Welcome by Stedelijk Director Beatrix Ruf, Introduction by exhibition curator Leontine Coelewij
2 pm Preview of the exhibition
4.30 pm End of program.

Please RSVP by email: pressoffice@stedelijk.nl or by phone: +31 (0)20 – 573 26 56 / 60. 

About the exhibition

Marlene Dumas – The Image as Burden presents a compelling overview of her oeuvre from the late 1970s to the present, containing her most important and iconic works, in conjunction with lesser-known paintings and drawings. The Stedelijk presentation features a number of exclusive highlights, such as a gallery devoted to drawings that have come straight from her studio, which have rarely – if ever – been on public view, and the 100-piece series Models from the collection of the Van Abbemuseum. The survey at the Stedelijk also places greater emphasis on the works produced between 1976 and1982, when Dumas’s career in Amsterdam began.

After many years, the key work in her oeuvre, Love vs Death (1980), which opens the exhibition, is once again on display. Also included are a selection of Dumas’s most recent paintings, such as The Widow and Nuclear Family, both from 2013, and a number of watercolor drawings from the series Great Men (2014), the remainder of which is currently on view at Manifesta in St. Petersburg.

Marlene Dumas – The Image as Burden is organized by the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in collaboration with Tate Modern, London (February 4, 2015 – May 10, 2015) and Foundation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (May 30, 2015 – September 13, 2015).

About Marlene Dumas

Marlene Dumas (Cape Town, South Africa, 1953) is considered one of the most significant and influential painters working today. Her emotionally charged paintings and drawings address existentialist themes such as eroticism, grief and shame while frequently referencing art-historical motifs and current political issues. Her work also reflects on new possibilities meanings that painting can still have today, in an era dominated by visual culture.

Dumas often finds inspiration in her large archive of magazine and newspaper photos. She believes that the endless stream of photographic images bombarding us every day influences how we see each other and the world around us. Dumas addresses this onslaught by revealing the psychological, social, and political aspects of these images

The Stedelijk Museum has a longstanding relationship with Dumas. Her work was first exhibited at the Stedelijk in 1978, since when the museum has added 39 drawings and paintings to its collection. In 2012, the Stedelijk acquired the controversial portrait Osama (2010). After the museum reopened, it underlined the importance of Dumas to the Stedelijk and the Netherlands with the creation of a ‘solo gallery’ in the collection presentation.

Publication

A catalogue will accompany the exhibition. Structured around a strict chronology, it offers excellent insights into the development of Marlene Dumas’s oeuvre from the 1970s to the present day. With writings by the artist, an in-depth interview with Dumas by Theodora Vischer, an essay by Leontine Coelewij, a text by Irish writer Colm Tóibín, and some 200 plates. (Tate Publishing, design by Roger Willems. 196 pp., Dutch, English and German, price: € 25)

Public Program

The exhibition also includes a documentary about Marlene Dumas and the installation of the exhibition. Besides guided tours, work-shops and a course about Dumas (Dutch only) as part of the Stedelijk Academie, the Stedelijk offers a dynamic Public Program:

stedelijk|forum:
Marlene Dumas interviewed by Leontine Coelewij, curator of the exhibition.
Thursday, October 16, 7.30 – 9.30 pm.
Location: Stedelijk Museum Teijin Auditorium.

stedelijk|gallery talks:
Marlene Dumas through the eyes of artists, art historians and film makers. Friday afternoons in October and November, from 1 – 2 pm:

  • Friday 17 October 2014 art historian and curator Alied Ottevanger
  • Friday, October 31, 2014 Leontine Coelewij, curator of the exhibition
  • Friday, November 21, 2014 Ena Jansen, Affiliate Professor of South African Literature (UvA)
  • Friday, November 28, 2014 artist Jan Andriesse. (date to be confirmed)

Please click here for more information about the Public Program.

From September on, the EYE, Amsterdam’s film museum, will dedicate three film nights to the artist under the title Marlene Dumas goes to the Movies, in which she will share films that have influenced her life and work.

The exhibition The Image as Burden of Marlene Dumas is made possible with the support of principal benefactor Stichting Ammodo and additional support from the VSBfonds, Mondrian Fund, the Straver Fonds a named fund of the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Stichting Zabawas and the K.F. Hein Fonds. The Stedelijk Museum would like to express its sincere thanks to principal sponsor Rabobank Amsterdam for making this exhibition possible.

Note to editors: Please click here for the previous press release about the exhibition. For more information, please contact the Stedelijk Museum Press Office, tel. +31 (0)20 – 573 26 56 / 60 or pressoffice@stedelijk.nl.