Simone Fattal

The multidisciplinary practice of Simone Fattal (Damascus, 1942) conceptualizes time as an elastic entity that transcends the distinctions between past, present, and future. Her work draws from mythology, spanning from ancient Egypt to Sunni mysticism and Greco-Roman tradition, creating archetypal figures that integrate historical narratives into the present.

Fattal’s work, predominantly sculptural, unfolds in a multicultural and nomadic space distinct from official history. This space transports the viewer to a “historical place” of an almost archaeological, multilingual, and polytheistic nature, which nevertheless exists and manifests in the present.

Through mediums such as sculpture, painting, and photography, Fattal explores the boundaries of figuration, inspired by historical figures from the Mediterranean, creating a cosmogony of resilient bodies and architectures. Her sculptures, made of bronze, clay, or stoneware, evoke literature, Sumerian tales, Arab epics, and Sufi poetry. Angels, centaurs, heroes, and gods mingle with architectural ruins and figures of fruits and animals, alluding to the loss of historical sites such as Palmyra or Aleppo. These works, timeless and simultaneously archaic and modern, reflect on humanity and its place in the world and history.

Fattal has been awarded the Julio González International Prize 2024 for her contribution to contemporary art. To mark the occasion, IVAM will organize an exhibition curated by Nuria Enguita and Rafael Barber, which will review the main lines of work of this Franco-Lebanese artist. A catalogue will be published in conjunction with the exhibition, including texts by the curators and contributions from professionals such as Jacqueline Burckhardt and Omar Kholeif.