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Marlene Dumas has a remarkable affinity
for language. From the very beginning it has played an
important part in her work as a visual artist and,
moreover, is frequently used as an autonomous vehicle of
expression. She made use of texts in her earliest collages and still occasionally writes short texts on her drawings. Her exhibitions and individual works are given intriguing and revealing titles, such as The Eyes of the Night Creatures or Miss Interpreted. These set up an atmosphere and sketch-in a metaphorical framework which allows her works a certain freedom of movement. Furthermore, over the last fifteen years, Dumas has written an impressive number of texts ranging from aphorisms and short poetic pieces to longer analytical texts. These focus on her own work, tackling such aspects as subject matter, background and sources, as well as its critical reception, and art and painting in general. Many of the texts were prompted by a special occasion like an exhibition or the request to contribute an article to a periodical or newspaper. Sweet Nothings is a selection of her best and most representative writings. Mariska van den Berg (from the introduction to Sweet Nothings) |
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| Marlene Dumas, Sweet Nothings, Uitgeverij De Balie, Amsterdam 1998 |
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| marlene dumas | marlene dumas | the Phaidon book | postmedia |