Diana Al-Hadid: Suspended After Image

Sculptor Diana Al-Hadid constructs forms that are a baroque complex of architectural structures and figurative allusions, which appear to be in a state between construction and deconstruction. Al-Hadid reinterprets a variety of common sculpture materials, such as cardboard, wood, plaster, and metal, to create sculptures that are simultaneously dense with materiality yet seemingly ethereal and gravity defying. Her work mines ancient Biblical and mythological narratives, Gothic and Classical architecture, iconic western painting, Islamic ornamentation, and scientific advances in physics and astronomy as a source of visual imagery and content.

For her site-specific installation Suspended After Image in the VAC’s Vaulted Gallery, Al-Hadid focuses on the history of Gothic, Northern Renaissance, and Mannerist paintings as the starting point for her exhibition. As a sculptor, Al-Hadid is intrigued by the improbable pictorial space, metaphorical colors, floating bodies within isolated and disjunctive events, as well as the forced perspective and horizon lines found in paintings from this rich period of art history. During a recent visit to Spain, she was struck by a Gothic painting of the Visitation which serves as a point of departure for her sculpture that will be built on-site at the VAC. Using a 3D modeling program and CNC router for the first time in her work, Suspended After Image explores the translation of a painted pictorial space into an immersive sculptural installation.

Generous support for Suspended After Image comes from Stratus Properties, Suzanne Deal Booth and David G. Booth, the W Hotel, Christine Mattsson and John McHale, and Texas Performing Arts.

Bio

Diana Al-Hadid was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1981 and currently lives and works in Brooklyn. She received a BFA in Sculpture and a BA in Art History from Kent State University in 2003 and an MFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2005. In addition, she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2007. Al-Hadid has recently had solo exhibitions at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, La Conservera, Spain; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno; and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. She was included in recent group exhibitions at the Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, UAE; Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki, Greece; and Exit Art Foundation, New York. Her work has been presented in many catalogs and books including Emerging Asian Artists and Out of Rubble. Al-Hadid is represented by Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York.