Diana Al-Hadid

Syrian-born and Brooklyn-based artist Diana Al-Hadid (born in 1981) is renowned for her lofty sculptures, wall pieces, and surreal bronzes that appear to be in a state of ruin, existing between creation and destruction. Her practice spans media and scale, examining the historical frameworks and perspectives that shape our material and cultural assumptions. Al-Hadid’s sculptures, panel works, and works on paper are constructed with layers of material and history. Inspired by myriad sources, including historical architecture, Hellenistic sculpture, advancing science, myths, and works by the old masters, her pieces resemble renderings from a fantasy world. Her rich, formal allusions transcend cultures and disciplines, drawing inspiration not only from the history of distant civilizations but also from the histories of the materials themselves. Al-Hadid’s work is intricate studies of space and structure, engaging the viewer continuously through its constant shift and flow of perspectives.

Al-Hadid developed a unique process for her panels that evolved from material studies in her large-scale sculptures but also owe a great debt to her flat work. They are created from common materials such as polymer gypsum, plaster, fiberglass, wood, and steel, where she, in a methodical layering movement and controlled drips, creates a combination of painting and sculpture. Not dissimilar to fresco, the technique combines material and pigment and can be implemented site-specifically or mounted on a wall.

Her work draws from a variety of sources, ranging from art history to architecture and cultural history. A recurring reference in her work is the well-known oil-on-wood painting "Allegory of Chastity" (1479) by Hans Memling, portraying a woman piously standing in the center of an imposing mountain. Another repeated subject in her art is Gradiva, a famous Roman bas-relief that was the basis for Sigmund Freud's 1907 study "Delusion and Dream in Jensen's Gradiva." She has also created a series of panels based on miniaturist Matrakci Nasuh’s documents from the 1500s Ottoman Empire and another series inspired by the German 16th-century manuscript "The Book of Miracles," one of the most spectacular discoveries in Renaissance art. Architectural fragments and ruins have been a consistent source of both structure and meaning in Al-Hadid's work. Her sculptures often evoke built constructions—cathedrals, pipe organs, towers, labyrinths, cities—yet are made of simple, often delicate, or fragile materials.

Al-Hadid received a BFA in Sculpture and a BA in Art History from Kent State University in 2003 and an MFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, in 2005. She also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2007. She has had solo exhibitions at various institutions worldwide, including the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University in Providence, RI; NYU Abu Dhabi University Gallery in Abu Dhabi, UAE; The Vienna Secession in Vienna, Austria; and the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, OH, among others. Her work is included in collections such as the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, NY; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, VA; and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX. In 2018 and 2019, Al-Hadid exhibited "Sublimations" at the First Art Museum and Cheekwood Garden, "Temperamental Nature" at Berggruen Gallery, and "Delirious Matter" at Williams College, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and Madison Square Park Conservancy. She has also executed the permanent installation "The Arches of Old Penn Station" at 34th Street Penn Station Stop in New York.