Myths & Mortals
‘Myths & Mortals,' Dumas’s second show with David Zwirner in New York, is a mixture of small works on paper and large scale paintings. Both, are inspired by Shakespeare’s poem about Venus and Adonis and her (Dumas’s) own daughter. The exhibition, running from April 28th–June 30th, 2018, is full of Dumas’s characteristic traits: dark color pallet and moody silhouettes.
The poem tells the story of Venus, the goddess of Love; of her unrequited love; and of her attempted seduction of Adonis, an extremely handsome young man, who would rather go hunting. The poem is pastoral, and at times erotic, comic, and tragic. It contains discourses on the nature of love, and observations of nature. - Wikipedia
Representative of Dumas’s common themes of tragedy and erotica - it makes sense, ‘Myths & Mortals’ would draw inspiration from this classic Shakespearean story.
Marlene Dumas is a South African artist best known for her dark, figurative, expressionist paintings (usually close-ups of faces or bodies). If Edvard Munch had been alive at the same time she would have given him a run for his money.
Marlene Dumas is represented by David Zwirner (in New York)
David Zwirner has other locations in London and Hong Kong, and represents some of the most famous artists of our time such as Harold Ancart, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, and Thomas Ruff.
Fun fact: The sale of Dumas's Jule-die Vrou (1985), positioned Dumas as one of three living female artists to trade for over $1 million.[5]
To learn more about Dumas, visit the artist's website (it's very nicely done).
