Marlene Dumas | David Zwirner

Marlene Dumas: Myths & Mortals
April 28–June 30, 2018

David Zwirner is pleased to present Myths & Mortals, an exhibition of new work by Marlene Dumas, on view at the gallery's 537 West 20th Street location. This exhibition, the artist's second with the gallery and her first solo presentation in New York since 2010, features a selection of new paintings that range from monumental nude figures to intimately scaled portraits. Alongside these works, Dumas is debuting an expansive series of works on paper originally created for a recent Dutch translation by Hafid Bouazza of William Shakespeare’s narrative poem Venus and Adonis (1593). In these drawings—tender and erotic with hints of violence—the artist renders the story of Venus, the goddess of love, and her tragic passion for the handsome youth Adonis in her singularly expressive ink wash.

Marlene Dumas has been awarded the 2017 Hans Theo Richter Prize for art by the Saxon Academy of Arts (Sächsische Akademie der Künste) in Dresden. Dumas is the 11th recipient of the annual prize, which was founded by the widow of the artist Hans Theo Richter.

Dumas was presented with the prize, which was reported in Dresden Magazin, on November 23, 2017. Upon receiving the award, the artist announced that she would donate the $23,000 prize to a scholarship program at Dresden’s Kupferstich-Kabinett in support of young artists. Read more in Artforum.

Two concurrent exhibitions and an altarpiece by the artist were on view in Dresden through January 14, 2018. Further details about the exhibitions and a related talk can be found here.

November 23, 4PM

Accompanying concurrent presentations of the artist's work in Dresden—Marlene Dumas. Skulls at the Albertinum and Marlene Dumas. Hope and Fear at The Kupferstich-Kabinett—Kathleen Reinhardt and Björn Egging discussed Dumas's work at the city's Staatliche Kunstsammlungen.

A 36-part work created from 2011-2015, Skulls was exhibited following the unveiling of a mural by Dumas in St. Anne's Church on Dresden's Freiberger Platz in March 2017. Hope and Fear presented 50 of the artist's works on paper at The Kupferstich-Kabinett. This exhibition ran parallel to the show Käthe Kollwitz in Dresden, also at the Kupferstich-Kabinett.

Marlene Dumas

Death of the Author, 2003

March 2017 saw the unveiling of a mural by Marlene Dumas in St. Anne's Church on Freiberger Platz in Dresden. Dumas's painting replaces the original altarpiece painted by Osmar Schindler in 1910, which was badly damaged during World War II. News of the commission was published in The Observer. Following the unveiling of the altarpiece, Marlene Dumas. Skulls (October 17, 2017–January 14, 2018, Albertinum, Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister) presented this 36-part work created from 2011–2015.