En février et mars 2022, les peintures de Marlene Dumas arrivent enfin à Venise. Le hall bardé de colonnes du Palazzo Grassi est rempli des grandes caisses renfermant les œuvres, en provenance de musées et de collections privées du monde entier. Commence alors la préparation d’"open-end", la première grande exposition monographique de Dumas en Italie. La commissaire d’exposition nous raconte la genèse de cet événement, tandis que le responsable du montage est chargé d’accueillir les œuvres et de les organiser. Entre-temps, Marlene Dumas arrive à Venise pour suivre de près les travaux. Son œuvre est nourrie de ses lectures passionnées de poésies et de romans et par son culte des images. Parmi la centaine d’œuvres exposées, des portraits de Charles Baudelaire, de Pasolini et de Marilyn Monroe…Avec la participation de Marlene Dumas, Caroline Bourgeois, Marco Ferraris, Donatien Grau, Elisabeth Lebovici.
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Ep.1: D’un hémisphère à l’autre. Vie et histoires de Marlene Dumas
La peinture de Marlene Dumas est un labyrinthe d’imagination. Pour approfondir son background culturel et psychologique, il est nécessaire de retourner dans le pays où elle a grandi, des années cinquante aux années soixante-dix: l’Afrique du Sud, sous l’apartheid. C’est dans ce contexte sensible, dominé par la culture et la langue afrikaans, que Marlene Dumas a appris à se confronter aux enjeux éthiques, développant une sensibilité singulière à l’égard des questions ambiguës de l’existence. C’est aussi en Afrique du Sud qu’elle a commencé son parcours artistique. Sa décision de partir pour l’Europe et de déménager à Amsterdam a changé sa vie, la lançant dans une carrière à laquelle elle s’est consacrée toute entière, avec patience et détermination. A partir de 1985, avec l’exposition The eyes of the night creatures, le style et la poétique de Dumas se montrent dans leur explosive nouveauté. Mais sa production artistique, qui couvre plusieurs décennies, est aussi marquée par une certaine fidélité: en témoigne le curieux dialogue entre une œuvre datant de 1995 et un petit dessin fait en 1963, alors que Marlene n’a que dix ans…Avec la participation de Marlene Dumas, Marlene Van Niekerk, Makwena Modimola, Elisabeth Lebovici.
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Ep.2: open-end. Marlene Dumas in Venice
The paintings of Marlene Dumas finally dock in Venice, between February and March. The colonnade of Palazzo Grassi is filled with the wooden cases used to transport her works; arriving from museums and private collections from all around the world. The first great personal of Dumas in Italy, "open-end", is being set up. The registrar and supervisor of the exhibition takes care to collect the works and prepare them. Meanwhile, Dumas herself has arrived in the lagoon to follow the works closely. Amongst the over one-hundred paintings, there is also a portrait of Pasolini, of her mother, of the poet Charles Baudelaire, and of Marilyn Monroe. With the contribution of Marlene Dumas, Claudia De Zordo, Donatien Grau, Elisabeth Lebovici.
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Ep.1: From one hemisphere to another. The life and story of Marlene Dumas
Marlene Dumas’ painting is a labyrinth of the imagination. To fully understand its cultural and psychological background, we need to think back at where Dumas grew up: in South Africa under the Apartheid, between the nineteen-fifties and sixties. Here, in a context dominated by the Afrikaans culture and language, Dumas learned to face ethical and moral issues, and she developed a sensitivity towards the ambiguities of our existence. Dumas started her studies in South Africa, but she truly became an artist only after moving to Amsterdam, and focusing on her craft with determination. The style and poetic of Dumas breaks new ground starting from 1985, and her exhibition: The eyes of the night creatures. There is more than one common denominator throughout her decade-long career: as we can tell by observing the striking similarity between a work of 1995, and one of 1963 – when Marlene was just ten-years old. With the contribution of Marlene Dumas, Marlene Van Niekerk, Makwena Modimola, Olivia Laing.
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Ep.2: open-end. Marlene Dumas a Venezia
Tra febbraio e marzo i quadri di Marlene Dumas arrivano finalmente a Venezia. Il porticato colonnato di Palazzo Grassi si riempie delle grandi casse di legno usate per trasportare le opere, in arrivo da musei e collezioni private di mezzo mondo. È in questo momento che inizia l’allestimento di "open-end", la prima grande personale di Dumas in Italia. La registrar e il responsabile delle mostre si occupano di accogliere le opere e sistemarle. Nel frattempo anche Dumas è sbarcata in laguna per seguire da vicino i lavori. Tra le cento e più opere in mostra anche un ritratto di Pasolini e della madre, del poeta Charles Baudelaire e di Marilyn Monroe. Con il contributo di Marlene Dumas, Claudia De Zordo, Marco Ferraris, Donatien Grau, Walter Siti.
Marlene Dumas tra parole e immagini. In occasione della grande mostra "open-end" presentata da Palazzo Grassi a Venezia fino all’8 gennaio 2023, Una specie di tenerezza, podcast in due episodi, racconta la vita e l’opera dell’artista Marlene Dumas. Il podcast -scritto in italiano e adattato in inglese e francese- ripercorre il cammino di Dumas sullo sfondo di due contesti storici e geografici: il Sudafrica dell’apartheid, dove Dumas trascorre l’infanzia e la giovinezza; il particolare universo di Amsterdam, dove Dumas si trasferisce a ventitré anni e dove tuttora vive. L’inizio degli anni 80 e il brusio crescente dei media costituiscono l’atmosfera in cui Dumas lavora, traendo ispirazione da fotogrammi di un film e da foto trovate sulla pagina di un quotidiano o di una rivista pornografica. Prostituzione, colpa, innocenza, violenza e tenerezza sono i temi delle sue opere. Del mondo di Dumas fanno parte persone comuni, così come volti noti della storia recente, da Pasolini a Marilyn Monroe. È questa la vibrante materia pittorica che a partire da marzo invaderà le sale e i corridoi di Palazzo Grassi.Marlene Dumas between words and images. On the occasion of the great "open-end" exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, open to visitors until January 8, 2023, "A sort of Tenderness" tells the story and describes the work of the artist Marlene Dumas. The two-episode podcast – written in Italian and adapted in English and French – traces Dumas's life path as it intertwined with two different historical and geographical contexts: the Apartheid and South Africa, where Dumas spent her childhood and youth, the unique universe of Amsterdam, the city where Dumas moved at the age of 23 and where she still lives. The beginning of the 80s and the buzz media industry made up the atmosphere where she worked, drawing inspiration from movies still frames, and pictures found in newspapers or erotic magazines. Prostitution, guilt, innocence, violence and tenderness are the themes ff her works. The world of Dumas includes ordinary people, as well as well-known faces from recent history, from Pasolini to Marilyn Monroe. From March this is the pictorial wave that will cross the corridors and halls of Palazzo Grassi.
Italia