Sanguine / Bloedrood

During the cultural city festival Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens Inspires, the M HKA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, juxtaposes the spirit of the baroque masters with the vision of contemporary top artists. With the exhibition Sanguine/Bloedrood (Blood Red), curator Luc Tuymans aims to overwhelm the visitor by placing key works from the baroque of, among others, Francisco de Zurbarán and Caravaggio, in dialogue with works by classical contemporary masters, such as On Kawara and Edward Kienholz, as well as new works by contemporary stars such as Zhang Enli, Takashi Murakami, Michaël Borremans, Sigmar Polke and Tobias Rheberger.

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Marlene Dumas

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Collection M HKA, Antwerp / Collection Flemish Community, image: © M HKA

Blind Joy, 1996

Marlene Dumas

Drawing , 125 x 70 cm

aquarel on paper

'I use all the cheap tricks of attracting attention: eyes looking at you, sexual parts exposed or deliberately covered. The primitive pull of recognition. The image as prostitute. You are forced to say yes or no.' - Marlene Dumas

Interestingly, it is the female nude, one of the canonical forms of Western art history, that occupies a central place in Marlene Dumas’ watercolours. At first glance, the watercolours from the MD–Pin Up Series: Blind Joy, Indian Summer, Mis-Cast, Sailor’s Dream and Slight Delight seem devoid of the embittered, lugubrious undertone that is characteristic of much of Dumas’ work in oil; they appear as symbols of a certain pleasure that may prove more empowering than we are willing to admit as we enter the minefield of post-feminist gender politics. However, the paintings are based on Polaroids Dumas made during a visit to a notorious Amsterdam strip club named Casa Rosso, as well as on photographs cut out of pornographic magazines.

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