Mona
Hatoum:
Shift English / French |
The minimalism-inspired sculptures of Mona Hatoum are anything but abstract. War and exile are obvious landmarks in the artist’s thematically focused installations, where one piece reflects on the other with a sense of playful danger. Here, we encounter carpets with dancing skeletons or made from treacherous clear glass marbles, black steel cages that hold or squash glass forms that look like human organs or helpless phallic shapes; and with iron barricades riddled with bullet holes and thick curtains made from barbed wire the gallery space is buttressed and divided. Hatoum mixes compositional form with real-world reference to make pieces that look sumptuous and tough at the same time. The exhibition at Galerie Max Hetzler concentrated on new work the artist complemented with pieces reaching back until 1988—and likewise the essay by Patricia Falguières explores the new installations in the light of the artist’s vital themes throughout her career.
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