Diana Al-Hadid is a contemporary artist. She was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1981 and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA in sculpture from Kent State University in Ohio (2003), an MFA sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond (2005), and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine (2007).

Contents 1 Artistic practice 1.1 Selected solo exhibitions 1.2 Selected group exhibitions 1.3 Awards 2 External links 3 References

[edit] Artistic practice

Al-Hadid constructs large, architectural sculptures from media such as polystyrene, plaster, fiberglass, wood, and wax. These materials combine to give the works the sense of extreme fragility and immediacy, contrasting with their monumental scale and sturdy construction. The physicality of her work helps to articulate her concern with the inevitable crumbling of ambitious human constructions. The Tower of Babel, medieval cathedrals such as Chartres, and labyrinths such as the labyrinth at Crete are among the many references Al-Hadid uses to illustrate her all at once grandly historical and deeply personal themes.

Her latest show, Reverse Collider (2008), integrates her interest in "impossible architecture" with the modern scientific instrument which has inspired the exhibition's title, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). For Al-Hadid, this particle accelerator signifies an "argument against infinity" ^[1] It is a reminder, like the Tower of Babel of dangers of hubris and cyclical nature of creation and destruction.

A full biography as well as press links and images can be found at Diana Al-Hadid's main gallery Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, NY.

[edit] Selected solo exhibitions

• Reverse Collider, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, NY (2008)
• Record of a Mortal Universe, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, NY (2007)
• The Gradual Approach of My Disintegration, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York, NY (2006)
• Pangaea's Blanket (and the Slowest Descent from Grace), Visual Arts Gallery, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN(2006)
• The Fourth Room, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (2006)
• Immodest Mountain, Arlington Art Center, Washington, D.C. (2006)

[edit] Selected group exhibitions

• Yellow Bile, Red Humour: Aspects of Melancholy, curated by Oliver Zybok, Center for Arts and Culture, Montabaur, Germany (2008)
• Agitation and Repose, curated by Gregory Volk and Sabine Russ, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, NY (2007)
• Blood Meridian, curated by David Hunt, Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin, Germany (2007)

[edit] Awards

• Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY (2007)
• Artist-in-the-Marketplace Program, Bronx Museum, New York, NY (2006)
• Full Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, NY (2006)
• Sculpture Space, Utica, NY (2005)
• Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, NY (2005)

[edit] External links

• Images of works at Diana Al-Hadid's website
• Diana Al-Hadid Gallery

[edit] References

• Artinfo.com, "Diana Al-Hadid in New York", September 5, 2008
• The Art Newspaper, Diana Al-Hadid, December 6, 2007
• Daily Serving, Diana Al-Hadid, November 19, 2007
• nymag.com, Rachel Wolff, Diana Al-Hadid's Stairway to Heaven, November 7, 2007
• Saatchi Online, Morgan Falconner's Round-up of Summer Shows in New York, Fall, 2007