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Artworks left to right: Mont Tamalpaïs, 2015 (Sharjah Art Foundation Collection); Untitled, 2013 (HE Dr Zaki Nusseibeh Collection); Arbres [Trees], 2015 (Sharjah Art Foundation Collection); Untitled, 1994 (The Khalid Shoman Collection) Installation view, Sharjah Art Museum.
When I die, the universe will have lost its best friend.
– Etel Adnan
A respected writer, poet and playwright, Etel Adnan’s engagement with the social world of language is a vital part of a larger, complex practice that included painting, drawing, tapestry design and a hybrid mixture of writing, drawing and painting – the leporello. Adnan’s presentation for SB12 included fourteen paintings and four wool tapestries that reflect her inexhaustible dialogue with nature, colour and abstraction.
Through painting, Adnan conveys her private relationship to nature as living subject, each painting an ‘expression of an encounter’. As Simone Fattal has written, Adnan’s paintings are succinct, momentary. Each is executed in one sitting, constructed by the artist as she responds to vibrations and resonances of colour. In the late 1950s, Adnan began what would become one of the great relationships of her life – with Mount Tamalpaïs. The mountain would become her confidante, friend and obsession for the next two decades, and it continues to figure prominently in her work even today. While her work in tapestry reflects ‘another state of mind’, these abstractions demonstrate her subtle power as a colourist. In addition to existing works, two newly commissioned tapestries based on designs from the 1970s are presented here for the first time.
This project was part of Sharjah Biennial 12
Artworks left to right:
Untitled, 2012
Courtesy of Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg
Untitled, 2013
Courtesy of Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg
Untitled, 2013
Bashar Al Shroogi Collection
Untitled, 2013
Courtesy of Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg
Installation view
Sharjah Art Museum
Etel Adnan
2015
Wool tapestry
212 x 170 cm
Installation view
Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation
Etel Adnan
2015
Woven wool
165 × 220 cm
Installation view
Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation
![Arbres [Trees] Image](http://sharjahart.org/images/uploads/site-images/SB12_Adnan_5.jpg "Arbres [Trees] Image")
Etel Adnan
2013
Oil on canvas
35 x 45 cm
Installation view
Bashar Al Shroogi Collection
