Mona Hatoum

Remains to be Seen, 2019, Concrete and steel reinforcement bars, 528 x 530 x 530 cm. Courtesy the Artist, White Cube Gallery

Cells (tower), 2023, Hand-blown glass and stainless steel, 166.8 x 60 x 32.8 cm. Courtesy the Artist, White Cube Gallery

A massive steel structure suspended vertically from the ceiling appears to float in midair. Concrete blocks totaling 1.6 tons create a palpable tension, suspended between construction and collapse. In another work, red glass forms resembling internal organs are housed in steel cabinets. Hatoum arranges industrial materials in unexpected ways, exposing the instability of our surrounding systems and the duality of protection and control. Her practice is fundamentally shaped by her experience of double exile as a second-generation Palestinian refugee and her forced separation from family when the Lebanese Civil War erupted during her 1975 visit to London. Lebanese-born Mona Hatoum is recognized as one of the most important artists of her generation, transforming personal displacement into universal human experience through the uncanny transformation of familiar objects.