Diana Al-Hadid

Diana Al-Hadid is known for her staggering architectural sculptures, often constructed from steel, polystyrene, plaster, wood, resin and wax. Al-Hadid chooses her subjects carefully, balancing a range of formal and intellectual sources, from black holes to Breughel’s The Tower of Babel, from the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland to the sleight of hand illusions of close-up magic, from the labyrinth on the floor of Chartres Cathedral to the slow rotation of pilgrims circling the Kaaba in Mecca. Al-Hadid levies these resonant interests with an entirely personal–if not idiosyncratic–method inescapably folding her own identity into a performative exploration of the physical limits of both her chosen materials and constructive methods.

Founding Grounds

Graphicstudio’s most recent collaboration with Diana Al-Hadid, Founding Grounds, references her reoccurring theme of hollowed-out and eroding classical antiquities. In this bronze sculpture, the central foot was formed in wax from a previously cast mold, and the “smoke” was constructed of wire and foam, hand carved by Al-Hadid. A ceramic shell investment was created to encase the object and then burned out before the bronze was poured. The final sculpture was hand patinaed by Al-Hadid.

Reigning Queen

Graphicstudio’s most recent print collaboration with Al-Hadid, Reigning Queen, is an etching with screenprinted elements. This two run print was made in three stages. First the artist worked directly on a copper plate to create the spitbite aquatint background image. This was printed and the artist was sent an impression, on which she painted gold leaf directly onto the print surface. Graphicstudio technicians photographed the enhanced print, digitally separated the painting, and created the screen for the second, gold leaf run of the print.

In Mortal Repose

Al-Hadid’s 2011 Graphicstudio collaboration In Mortal Repose was her first sculptural work in bronze. It was developed from a body cast that she then modeled in wax. Using the traditional lost wax process, molds were made and the sculpture was cast in bronze. The figure was placed on a large-scale plinth, designed so that it can be exhibited out of doors.

Diana Al-Hadid was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1981. At the age of five, she emigrated with her family to Canton, Ohio, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received her MFA in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and later attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine.

Her work is included in such collections as the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Weatherspoon Art Museum and the Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York. Al-Hadid has had solo exhibitions at Mills College Art Museum, Jaffe-Friede Gallery at Dartmouth College, the NYUAD Gallery, the Secession in Vienna, Austria, Columbus College of Art and Design, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Hammer Museum, among others. Her work is represented by Kasmin Gallery in New York, and Galleri Brandstrup Oslo in Norway.

"The invitation to work with Graphicstudio’s outstanding team has come at a critical moment in both my professional career and my personal artistic development. Their support comes at a point in my practice in which I am eager to develop ideas I would ordinarily be unable to explore in my own studio. The work I am creating at Graphicstudio would surely not have been possible to realize, and quite likely improbable to conceptualize, without their assistance." - Diana Al-Hadid

 

Further Resources

Artist's Site: dianaalhadid.com

GS Blog Post: New Photos of Diana Al-Hadid “In Mortal Repose” Sculpture

GS Blog Post: New Sculpture | “In Mortal Repose” by Diana Al-Hadid

CAM Exhibition: New Weather: Diana Al-Hadid, Iva Gueorguieva, Robyn O’Neil

 

Printmaking + Sculpture Terms

Printmaking Glossary

Sculpture Glossary

Sales

For sales, or more information about an edition, please contact Graphicstudio at (813) 974-3503 or gsoffice@usf.edu.

Copyright + Reproduction

Images of the artwork are jointly owned by the artist and Graphicstudio. Reproduction of any kind including electronic media must be expressly approved by Graphicstudio.