The Lenbachhaus and the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen are jointly hosting the first comprehensive monographic exhibition on Etel Adnan's work in Germany. Born in Beirut, Etel Adnan (1925–2021) is an important representative of modernism. Her artistic and literary work is characterized by a great and lively exchange between the Arab and Western worlds.
The work of the poet, journalist, painter and philosopher, who has 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 expressed solidarity with Algeria: "I no longer needed to write in French, I wanted to paint in Arabic." Her political clarity and the close connection between writing and painting have become essential features of her oeuvre.
An exhibition by the Lenbachhaus, 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.
96 handmade ceramic tiles, 316 × 468 cm
leporello, ink on paper, 21 × 280 cm, maximum extension
