Mona Hatoum

by Mona Hatoum, Christoph Heinrich, Volker Adolphs

Each of Mona Hatoum's works can be read as a formula for human existence, expressed in a penetrating visual language that is both complex and puzzling. As the artist herself points out, iOneis first experience of a work of art is physical. I appreciate works that have sensual as well as intellectual impact. Meanings, connotations, and associations begin to emerge only after the initial physical experience, when the imagination, the intellect, and the psyche are ignited by what one has seen.i The daughter of Palestinian parents, Hatoum has long been regarded in Great Britain and the U.S. as one of the most important artists of her generation. Born in Lebanon in 1952 and a resident of London since 1975, her sensitivity to themes of power and identity has been heightened by a life lived outside her homeland. Many of her objects, video pieces, and installations deal with aspects of institutionalized violence and the vulnerability of the individual; her central point of reference is the body, in many cases her own. This is the first book to document the full breadth of Mona Hatoum's oeuvre, up to and including her most recent projects.

Genres: Art

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[heyyonicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhibition catalogue of Mona Hatoum's "Interior Landscape" presented at Fondazione Querini Stampalia in 2009. Two texts and a lot of pictures of the works of the artist, and some of her working studio. I really liked to discover her photographs, which are not the most famous part of her work. The texts are not sufficient to explore her career deeply but maybe enough if you just want to get a glimpse of what she's known for. Too bad that they were not more views of the exhibition in the Querini Stampalia Fondation, because the artist seemed to have chosen really carefully how to embed her artworks in this historical building.