Sanguine/Bloedrood. Luc Tuymans on Baroque
©Private collection, Courtesy Zeno X Gallery, photographer: Peter Cox
Magdalena (a painting needs a wall to object to), 1995
Painting
, 200 x 100 cm
Oil on canvas
Marlene Dumas makes engaged portraits, infused with an oppressive unrest, and painted with a sometimes wild, hasty touch. It is no coincidence that precisely the work Magdalena will be shown in the exhibition, a dark and penetrating painting of a female figure turning around. It evokes associations with both disgust and resistance. The gesture conveyed by Marlene Dumas in this work expresses both a remarkable directness, but also an extreme reticence, which functions as a shield of sorts.
Text: Hans Willemse
Translations: Michael Meert