Marlene Dumas

"This title refers to the wall that epitomizes the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the so-called 'Security Wall', but also the roadblocks in the occupied territories and the Wailing Wall. A set of seven large paintings shows people framed by walls, in one painting a Lebanese mother squatting next to an open grave with a photograph of her son in front of her, while the paintings Mind Blocks and Under Construction just show the bare constructions used to secure the Israeli domination of Palestine. Some paintings relate to each other in a grotesque way: Wall Wailing and Wall Weeping show Palestinians pushed against a wall, hands up, to be searched by the Israeli military in a raid in Jerusalem in 1967. Constructed from large stone blocks this wall resembles the Wailing Wall. The painting The Wall, on the other hand, shows orthodox Jews preparing for prayer at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem before the 'Security Wall'. Here, however, a first glance may assume the faithful to be standing next to the Wailing Wall. These paintings intimate an exchange between Palestinians and Israelis that points to their tragic interrelation and implements at the same time the power of painting to upset the reality of the obvious"--Art Daily.