Mona Hatoum Exhibition
Alexander and Bonin
This event has ended.
In this exhibition, Hatoum presents new and recent works in which she revisits some of the themes that have become emblematic of her practice in the last decade. Generally innocuous everyday items are reconfigured as sculptures that address issues of threat and violence.
Misbah, (2006-07) (the title is the Arabic word for lantern) is a rotating brass lantern hanging in the middle of a dark room. Turning around it throws fleeting shadows of soldiers marching round and round in a field of starry shapes that allude to explosions. Dormiente (2008) is based on a handheld kitchen grater with curved ends. Here it is scaled up to the size of a bed that promises discomfort and pain. Despite their menacing overtones, both works reflect a poetic yet disquieting beauty.
Notions of threat are similarly referred to in a recent sculpture, Nature morte aux grenades (2006-07). A collection of colorful crystal shapes resembling hand grenades are placed on a steel and rubber trolley setting up a contradiction between the seductiveness of the material and a subtext of danger.
Hatoum has often used the map as a motif in her work, most recently through a process of material-removal. Afghan (black and red) (2009) is a traditional oriental carpet that looks as if in a state of disintegration as large patches of the weave appear to have been moth-eaten or somehow worn-out. On a second glance one can see that the apparently random patches form a recessed world map seen from above.
Media
Schedule
from January 17, 2009 to February 21, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-01-17 from 18:00 to 20:00