Marlene Dumas

Adult Entertainment or what do I do

(when you are far away)

What do I do when I use a picture of a (wo)man
that I do not love, do not know
and have no interest in getting to know in real life.
Why do I use source material from porno-books as
models for my figures
if it’s not the pornographic that I’m after?
Because I can’t see myself when I do the things I do,
I don’t know how I look when I look at you.


Adult Entertainment or what do I do (when you are far away). Artist’s statement dating from 1986, first published in Intimate Relations, (cat.), Jacana Media | Johannesburg & Roma Publications | Amsterdam, 2007, p.79; and included in Marlene Dumas, Sweet Nothings. Notes and Texts, second edition (revised and expanded) Koenig Books London, 2014.