Mona Hatoum
November 1–December 23, 2005
Stephen E. Ostrow Distinguished Visitor in the Arts


Mona Hatoum, Four Birds (Baalbeck), 1998, Chromogenic print, 9 x 12 in., Edition of 6

ARTIST TALK: Wednesday, November 2, 7 p.m., Vollum lecture hall
on the Reed College campus, free and open to the public

Mona Hatoum is one of the most important British artists of her generation. Born in 1952, Hatoum attended the Slade School of Art having been stranded in England after the outbreak of war in Lebanon, her country of residence while growing up. Emerging onto the British art scene during the convulsive excitement of the YBA (Young British Artists) movement in 1980s London, Hatoum's early work included physically extreme, enigmatic public performances exploring personal and public space, vulnerability, and social relationships. Moving into complex sculptural and multi-media work, Hatoum has consistently explored cultural dynamics of immigration, gender, and physical and psychological displacement. Hatoum often uses the personal space of the body and its products as a means for exploring broader cultural and political concerns. Over the past twenty years, Hatoum has created works as intimate in scale as an installation of tiny sculptures crafted from the artist's hair, to enormous large scale steel sculptures. For this unique exhibition, the Cooley Gallery is extremely pleased to be including Hatoum's La Grande Broyeuse—one of the artist's largest steel sculptures. La Grande Broyeuse replicates a common object on a massive scale—alternately threatening, humorous, and monumental. In addition to this important work, this exhibition includes video, photography, and mixed media sculpture. Hatoum's work has been featured at the Tate Britain, London; the Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Oaxaca Museum, Oaxaca, Mexico; and the 2005 Venice Biennale. In 2004, Hatoum was awarded the prestigious Sonning Prize in Copenhagen, Denmark—the first visual artist to receive this distinguished honor. The Sonning Prize is awarded every other year by the University of Copenhagen to a man or woman "who has significantly contributed to the advancement of European civilization."

Mona Hatoum comes to Reed as a Stephen E. Ostrow Distinguished Visitor in the Arts. The program was established in 1988 by a generous gift from Edward and Sue Cooley and John and Betty Gray in support of art history and its place in the humanities. The mission of the program is to bring to Reed and the Portland community creative individuals who are distinguished in connection with the visual arts and whose work provides a forum for conceptual exploration, challenge, and discovery.
—Stephanie Snyder, curator

EXHIBITION PUBLICATION
A fully illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition with essays by Stephanie Snyder, curator, and writer Alix Ohlin, published by the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College. The catalog is available at the Cooley and by calling 503-777-7251.

RELATED EVENTS:

MONA HATOUM
AT THE AFFAIR AT THE JUPITER HOTEL
September 30–October 2, 2005

Sponsored by the McGeady Family Foundation, the Cooley Gallery will mount a special one-person exhibition of Hatoum's work at the 2005 Affair at the Jupiter Hotel, Portland's 2nd annual celebration of art and culture organized by Stuart Horodner. The exhibition is curated by Stephanie Snyder, Director, Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery with Ted Bonin, Alexander and Bonin, New York, New York. Affair hours are 12-7 p.m. October 1–2. The Jupiter Hotel is located at 800 SE Burnside in Portland.