Mona Saudi

Overview

Mona Saudi sculpted mainly in stone - one of the few artists of her generation to do so. Her forms are full of vitality, beauty and a clear sense of equilibrium, frequently returning to ideas of fertility and growth. Always starting with basic shapes, the square, circle, cylinder, rectangle, she goes on to give them movement, a life of their own – either repeating their forms, varying their depths or heights or cutting them across one another to create new, graceful compositions.

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Biography

Mona Saudi and her work in front of the Insitut du Monde Arabe in Paris

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Mona Saudi was born in Amman, Jordan in 1945. She studied sculpture at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France.

Solo exhibitions include Icons, Abu Dhabi Art, with Lawrie Shabibi, 2018; Humanized Abstraction, Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut, 2017; Poetry in Stone, Lawrie Shabibi, 2015; Saint John Perse Foundation, Aix-en-Provenance, 2011; Poetic Inspirations, The Mosaic Rooms, AM Qattan Foundation, London, 2010; and Retrospective, Darat Al-Funun, Amman, 1995.

Select group exhibitions include Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility at the 16th Lyon Biennale, macLYON, Lyon, France, 2022; Feminine Power: the divine to the demonic, The British Museum, London, UK, 2022; Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility, Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany, 2022; Abu Dhabi Art, with Lawrie Shabibi, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2018; Abu Dhabi Art, with Lawrie Shabibi, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2016;.Le Corps Découvert, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France, 2012; Salon d'Automne, Sursok Museum, Beirut, 2011-1993; International Cairo Biennale, Cairo, 2003; Voyage en Jordanie, Hotel de Ville, Paris, France, 1997; Forces of Change, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., 1994; Arab Contemporary Artists, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 1987; Arab Artists, Kunst Hus, Oslo, 1981; Palestinian Art, Oriental Museum, Moscow; International Art Exhibition for Palestine, Beirut, 979; Colamarini and his Students, Musee Rodin, Paris, 1978 and Salon de Mai, Musee d'Art Moderne, Paris 1973-1972.

In 2018, Poetry & Form, a survey of her works curated by Hoor Al Qassimi, was presented at the Sharjah Art Museum in collaboration with Sharjah Art Foundation.

Her works are in the collections of the Sharjah Art Foundation; the British Museum, London; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; the National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; the Khaled Shoman Foundation, Amman; National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington D.C; Dar Al Athar Al Islamiyya, Kuwait; the Museum of Modern Art, Kuwait; Moussem culturel international d'Assilah, Asilah; Arab Bank Headquarters, Amman; Jabal Amman, Public Square, Amman; University of Science & Technology, Irbid; Al Wafa Bank, Casablanca; International Sculpture Park, Lebanon; Al Hariri Art Collection, Beirut; and the Ministry of Culture, Cairo.

A monumental sculpture by Mona Saudi stands outside the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the only work permitted to grace the surrounding precinct by its architect Jean Nouvel.

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Exhibitions