Praying ,1984
Provenance : Private collection, Cape Town.
Exhibited : 34 Long, Cape Town, 'Marlene Dumas', 6 November to 1 December 2007, an example from the edition exhibited.
Literature :
Notes : First published by Zeger Reijers, Rotterdam.
This early print was produced in the same year the artist painted one of her most eminent and acclaimed self-portraits Het Kwaad is Banaal (Evil is Banal), now in the collection of The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. While in different mediums, both works similarly feature intense, emotionally charged self-depictions to explore both personal and universal themes of sexuality, love, shame and redemption.
In 1984, Dumas was also invited to participate in the Sydney Biennale exhibiting alongside Mike Kelley and Anselm Kiefer. Two years prior, Dumas became the first South African artist to exhibit on Documenta, the world's premier contemporary art show held every five years in Kassel, Germany and in 1983, the Helen van der Meij Gallery presented the artist's debut solo show in Amsterdam.
Another edition, titled Zelfportret, is in the permanent collection of the Centraal Museum, Utrecht. Editions from this print are very scarce and rarely come to market.
Marlene Dumas is considered one of the most influential and iconic artists of the 21st century. She is largely known for her intimate, yet estranged figurative portraits that explore the complexities of identity, followed by her politically charged social art, based on personal photographs, snapshots, or images from the press and the mass media. Her work - provocative, engaging, and disturbing at the same time - provides an intriguing way to look at reality, in which one sees both the façade and what's behind it as she addresses contemporary subject matters without any reserve.
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