Marlene Dumas

How blue can a white Man get?

What’s a privileged girl has to be sad about?
What’s painters got to be mad about?
Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.
Your expectations are my inspiration.
Your guilt is a big sensation.
Art is a low risk, high-reward crime.


How blue van a white Man get? Originally published in Parkett, no.38 (December 1993), p.123 [last section page 123]; and included in Marlene Dumas, Sweet Nothings. Notes and Texts, first edition Galerie Paul Andriesse and De Balie Publishers Amsterdam, 1998; and second edition (revised and expanded) Koenig Books London, 2014.