Diana Al-Hadid
Born 1981, Aleppo, Syria
2003 BA & BFA Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
2005 MFA Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Selected museum exhibitions: Frist Art Museum and Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, Nashville (2019); Bronx Museum of the Arts (2018); San José Museum of Art (2017); Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (2016); Newcomb Art Museum, New Orleans (2016); Secession, Vienna (2014); NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery (2014, 2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2010); Arlington Arts Center, Washington, D.C. (2006)
Selected honors: Keynote Speaker, International Sculpture Center Conference (2016); Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant (2011); Fellow in Sculpture, New York Foundation for the Arts (2009)
Selected public collections: deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts; San José Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia; Whitney Museum of American Art
Born in Syria and living in Brooklyn, Diana Al-Hadid creates works in a variety of media, drawing inspiration across cultures from the history of science and invention, myths, and the old masters. Al-Hadid creates structures that simultaneously soar and dissolve in space, due in part to her interest in the object’s relationship to the ground and her fascination with engineering. The Candle Clock of the Scribe, 2017, was inspired by the ingenious candle clocks devised by Ismail al-Jazari in the 13th century. With controlled dripping and pooling of her materials and suspension of a brass falcon, Al-Hadid alludes to the passage of time and honors the legacy of Islamic scholars.