Marlene Dumas explores themes of identity, sexuality, race, and violence through intimate, ethereal paintings. She was born in South Africa during apartheid and immigrated to the Netherlands to study, where she continues to live and work. For Dumas, her feeling that “I am always ‘not from here’” factors into the shifting cultural contexts of her personal life and artistic practice. Working from an archive of images collected over decades—including snapshots, magazines, and popular media—Dumas creates haunting portraits of contemporary life. While figurative, her paintings are marked by a poetic use of color, gesture, and expression that blur the boundaries between reality and perception.

–From the Glenstone Field Guide