Blindfolded

In this portrait, the subject appears blindfolded, his blue-gray complexion conveying extreme anguish and his neck muscles tense, expressing the full intensity of his distress. The painting is inspired by an image of a Palestinian in a refugee camp, arrested by an Israeli soldier. Marlene Dumas has often drawn from photographs and press clippings about Palestinians, notably producing a series on blindfolded men. For an artist whose work is so focused on the gaze and vision, the blindfold symbolizes a profound degradation: deprived of sight, the individual becomes entirely subject to the control of others.

In 2010, Dumas exhibited Against the Wall, a monumental series that draws a parallel between the Western Wall and the Israeli separation barrier, a symbol of Palestinian oppression. Having grown up in a society marked by apartheid, Dumas remains deeply affected by this experience and strongly rejects all forms of classification, whether racial or gender-based, as well as any arbitrary assignment. She is interested only in individuals and the “wretched of the earth.”

This work is held by the Pinault Collection and was presented for the first time at the "Marlène Dumas" exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in 2022