MARLENE DUMAS (b. 1953) CLEANING THE POLE si

PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN COLLECTION

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist

Exhibited
AMSTERDAM, Theatermuseum, Theater Institute Nederland, April 15-July 3, 2000 and GENT, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst-S.M.A.K, September 10-October 22, 2000 ANTON CORBIJN, MARLENE DUMAS: STRIPPING GIRLS, (illustrated)

Literature
July 3, 2000 and GENT, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst-S.M.A.K, September 10-October 22, 2000 ANTON CORBIJN, MARLENE DUMAS: STRIPPING GIRLS, (illustrated)
A. Corbijn and M. Dumas, ANTON CORBIJN, MARLENE DUMAS: STRIPPING GIRLS, AMSTERDAM, 2000 (illustrated)
U. Grosenick, ed., WOMEN ARTISTS IN THE 20TH CENTURY, COLOGNE,2001, p. 111 (illustrated)

YOU ENTER THE THEATRE OF SEDUCTION.YOU PAY FOR THIS PLEASURE TO QUIVER WITH ANTICIPATION. YOU STICK TO THE RULES. STRIPPERS MIGHT STRETCH THE RULES, YOU DON'T. YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR PLACE. YOU HAVE COME, SO THAT SHE CAN MAKE YOU WAIT.
Marlene Dumas quoted in Anton Corbijn, MARLENE DUMAS: STRIPPING GIRLS,February 2003

Marlene Dumas's palette has become one of the defining features in her works. She is known for creating ashy images with a unique interplay of hues.The colors she selects do not always bond with what is depicted but they always succeed in heightening the psychological drama of the subject. In CLEANING THE POLE the pale redheaded figure is outlined with and surrounded by a warm red glow that serves to maximize the sensuality of her pose and to offset her marble white skin. The background smolders with a mix of ashy gray as if the desire in the room has heated the actual canvas on which her body is stretched.

The white of the female figure's skin and the classic pose of her figure is reminiscent of a marble Hellenistic sculpture. Extended above her head are her arms, pulling the line of her body upward and pressing her center firmly onto the pole while her legs are positioned, one in front of the other suggestive of a contrapposto stance. Her eyes are blocked completely so we see only the suggestion of her lips above the curve of her chin. She becomes the modern day Fertility Goddess, anonymous, seductive, powerful.