The Dutch artist Marlene Dumas creates collages, drawings and paintings and also writes poems, essays and statements about her work. She belongs to the select group of painters who revived figurative painting in the 80s and 90s. Dumas mainly makes portraits of human figures, which she executes in a drawing-like, expressionistic style, in sombre shades and with strong contrasts between light and dark. Most of the portraits depict women and are based on mass-media photographs or her own Polaroids. Dumas’ work is firmly rooted within her personal milieu and experiences, and deals with such charged themes as sexuality, love, eroticism, death and guilt. She often refers to art history, popular culture and current events.
