Marlene Dumas - recent exhibitions and museum presence
Published on 08/24/2026 at 17:16 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Marlene Dumas remains one of the most visible painters of her generation across European institutions. Her figurative works appear in group shows that connect contemporary image-making with politics and the body, as current exhibition listings and museum programs demonstrate.
Group shows and thematic exhibitions
One recent example is the exhibition Before Our Eyes at Z33 in Hasselt, Belgium, which brings together ten international artists including Marlene Dumas in a reflection on responsibility and representation. The show, curated by Tim Roerig, positions her portraits alongside works by Luc Tuymans and Mohammed Sami, underlining her role in a wider discourse on conflict and its visual mediation.
Beyond Hasselt, databases such as MutualArt list multiple current exhibitions where Dumas’s works feature among broader surveys of contemporary painting and drawing. These range from historically framed shows of female artists to collection-based presentations of contemporary drawing in European museums, underscoring how curators place her practice within larger narratives of figuration and the body.
Museum collaborations and Cycladic context
Dumas’s work also intersects with archaeological and regional narratives, as shown by the program of the Museum of Cycladic Art and the Archaeological Museum of Thera. The Cycladic institutions frame contemporary art projects such as Cycladic Blues within a broader reflection on the Cyclades, suggesting how artists like Dumas engage with place, history and myth in dialogue with archaeological collections.
At the same time, major museums continue to reference her earlier retrospectives, including the large-scale exhibition Measuring Your Own Grave organized by MOCA Los Angeles in association with MoMA in New York. That show, with around seventy paintings and thirty-five drawings, established a benchmark for institutional engagement with her oeuvre and is still cited in museum calendars as a touchstone for her American reception.
All news and background on Marlene Dumas
For further reporting on exhibitions, market results and institutional projects involving Marlene Dumas, the AD HOC NEWS archive offers continuously updated coverage.
How the artist works
Dumas, born in Cape Town in 1953 and long based in the Netherlands, is known for intimate yet unsettling paintings and works on paper that often draw on found photographic material. Her series frequently address sexuality, political violence and the psychology of looking, using thinned paint, muted palettes and deliberately unstable contours.
Where the artist stands now
By all accounts, Marlene Dumas’s work continues to circulate widely in European exhibitions and museum programs, with active institutional collaborations but no single dominant event date within the immediate 30-day window.
Key facts on Marlene Dumas
- Artist: Marlene Dumas
- Medium / Genre: Painting and works on paper (figurative)
- Born: 1953, Cape Town, South Africa
- Place(s) of practice: Based in the Netherlands
- Active since: Late 1970s, with mature works appearing from that period
- Key work groups: Miss January, The Visitor, Measuring Your Own Grave, portrait and body-centered series
- Current/last exhibition: Before Our Eyes, Z33, Hasselt, group exhibition with international artists
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Museum of Cycladic Art collaborations noted
- Awards: Recognized internationally with major retrospectives such as Measuring Your Own Grave at MOCA Los Angeles and MoMA New York
- Next date: No single publicly highlighted date within the immediate 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Marlene Dumas
Where can Marlene Dumas’s work be seen in institutional contexts?
Her works appear in group exhibitions like Before Our Eyes at Z33 in Hasselt and in museum programs that link contemporary art with historical and regional narratives, such as projects around the Cycladic islands.
How do museums position Marlene Dumas’s paintings and drawings?
Institutions including MoMA and MOCA have framed her practice through extensive retrospectives like Measuring Your Own Grave, highlighting her exploration of the human figure, vulnerability and media imagery in large bodies of work.
Which key themes run through Marlene Dumas’s series?
Across series and individual works, Dumas addresses sexuality, race, political violence, religion and the act of looking, often translating press and archival photographs into psychologically charged painted figures.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
