Edited with text by Caroline Bourgeois. Text by Élisabeth Lebovici, Ulrich Loock

A concise and affordable overview of Dumas’s existential portraiture, with previously unseen works

An engrossing compendium of more than 100 works from 1984 to the present day by South African painter Marlene Dumas (born 1954), Open-End offers a selective overview of her career to date, and a first look at pieces created over the course of the last few years.

Of her work, Dumas says: “I am an artist who uses second-hand images and first-hand emotions.” While in the early years of her career she was known for her collages and accompanying texts, today Dumas works chiefly in oil on canvas and ink on paper. The majority of her production is made up of portraits of people in states of suffering, ecstasy, fear and despair. A crucial moment in the development of Dumas’s style came with her use of images from newspapers and magazines, stills from films and Polaroids.

Open-End brings together pieces from international museums and private collections to provide new insight into Dumas’ work and methods.

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