Mona Hatoum

Beginning on October 19^th, Mona Hatoum will exhibit recent works at Alexander and Bonin. The artist has been represented by the gallery since 1995 and this will be her third solo show in New York including her 1997 show at the New Museum.  

The works in the exhibition use a variety of materials (steel, glass, marble, human hair) and a range of media (sculpture, photography, video, drawing). These works have been created in or inspired by time spent in diverse places such as Caracas, Stockholm and Mexico City where, in the last few years, Hatoum was invited to exhibit her work or participate in a residency program.

Hatoum´s work often draws on the everyday using recognizable familiar objects that have been transformed into unfamiliar and disquieting sculptures. Grater Divide (2002), a fold-out cheese grater has been scaled up to the size of a room divider or screen giving it surreal and architectural dimensions. Drowning sorrows (2001-2002) is a circular floor piece made of glass flasks that have been cut at various angles and appear as though bobbing in water. Traffic (2002), consists of two suitcases with hair spilling out of their sides suggesting human traffic and trafficking.

Mona Hatoum was born into a Palestinian family in Beirut and has lived and worked in London since 1975. Her work has been exhibited extensively around the world including the recent Documenta. Solo exhibitions include Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Kunsthalle Basel; Tate Britain, London; SITE Santa Fe; Mass MoCA, North Adams and most recently, Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City. A survey of Hatoum´s work, from the 1990s to the present, is currently on show at the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This show was organized in collaboration with the Centro de Arte de Salamanca, Spain, where it was shown earlier this year. Catalogues from these current exhibitions are available at the gallery.