Diana Al-Hadid: Unbecoming

Al-Hadid’s allegorical panel paintings, architecture-inspired sculptures and intricate works on paper scrutinize notions of femininity through a historical and narrative lens

Published with Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University.

Working across large-scale sculptures, panel paintings, installations and works on paper, Syria-born, New York-based artist Diana Al-Hadid (born 1981) creates allegorical abstractions that draw from such sources as Greek mythology and global literature.unbecoming accompanies a 20-year survey organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, bringing together works that examine how these narrative sources have molded expectations for women. The accompanying catalog captures the arc of Al-Hadid’s unique visual language to date, including a recent series of handmade paper works and a new panel realized for the exhibition. New essays and an artist interview take readers through Al-Hadid’s process and address the way questions of gender have continually been at the heart of her practice.