On View

IYP X Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Etel Adnan. Poetry of Colors

Curated by: Sébastien Delot

01.04.2023 - 16.07.2023

Born in Beirut, Etel Adnan (1925-2021) is an important representative of modernism. Her artistic and literary work is characterized by a broad and vibrant exchange between the Arab and Western worlds. The work of the poet, journalist, painter and philosopher, who spent her life between Lebanon, France and California, combines very different art forms, media, languages and cultures.

 

After Algeria’s War of Independence (1954-1962), Adnan refused to continue working in French and showed solidarity with Algeria: “I didn’t need to write in French anymore, I wanted to paint in Arabic.” Her political clarity, as well as the close connection between writing and painting, have become essential features of her oeuvre.

An exhibition of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich, and the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, curated by Sébastien Delot, Director LaM, Lille métropole musée d’art moderne d’art contemporain et d’art brut.

Etel Adnan (1925–2021)
Untitled, c. 1970
oil on canvas
55 x 46 cm

Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection

Etel Adnan (1925–2021)
Untitled, 1972
oil on canvas
65 x 50 cm

Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection

Etel Adnan (1925–2021)
Untitled, 1972-1975
oil on canvas
65 x 54 cm

Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection

Etel Adnan (1925–2021)
Untitled, 1965
oil on canvas
66.5 x 66.5 cm

Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection

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