Mona Hatoum: Bunker, White Cube Mason's Yard

Mona Hatoum: Bunker, White Cube Mason's Yard | reviews, news & interviews

Mona Hatoum: Bunker, White Cube Mason's Yard

Blasted cityscapes from the Beirut-born conceptualist

by Mark HudsonWednesday, 02 March 2011

'Bunker': 'The cuboid Modernist structures spattered with bullet hole-like borings, gougings and serrations create a brutally ominous cityscape' White Cube

The latest exhibition from Beirut-born, sometime Turner Prize-nominee Mona Hatoum – best known for sending a camera through her inner tubes and projecting the results – explores themes of displacement and geographical and political tension. I know this because since I signed up to review it a fortnight ago, invites and reminders concerning this exhibition "exploring themes of displacement and geographical and political tension" have been hitting my mailbox with hectoring insistence.

Too much explanation has squeezed the sense of poetry, the possibility of surprise

Buy

Find Mona Hatoum on Amazon

Explore topics

Share this article

...

Permalink Submitted by Josh Spero on Thu, 03/03/2011 - 10:02

The benefit of critical notes is that they can give you a framework and an insight into the artist's intention - otherwise you can be left completely cold. I know it's po-mo doctrine that the intention doesn't matter, but I don't think most people are uninterested in that.

...

Permalink Submitted by Laura (not verified) on Thu, 03/03/2011 - 11:36

Great descriptions of her works, really gave me a sense of the pieces. Definitely want to head along to see it!

...

Permalink Submitted by Fattie Brannigan (not verified) on Thu, 03/03/2011 - 12:04

@Josh Spero - The problem with critical notes, is that most are written in the same pompous artspeak, and they are so bloody dull.

Add comment

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Visual arts

Lygia Clark: The I and the You, Sonia Boyce: An Awkward Relation, Whitechapel Gallery review - breaking boundaries Two artists, 50 years apart, invite audience participation

Mike Kelley: Ghost and Spirit, Tate Modern review - adolescent angst indefinitely extended The artist who refused to grow up

Monet and London, Courtauld Gallery review - utterly sublime smog Never has pollution looked so compellingly beautiful

Michael Craig-Martin, Royal Academy review - from clever conceptual art to digital decor A career in art that starts high and ends low

Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers, National Gallery review - passions translated into paint Turmoil made manifest

Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent, Whitechapel Gallery review - photomontages sizzling with rage Fifty years of political protest by a master craftsman

Dominique White: Deadweight, Whitechapel Gallery review - sculptures that seem freighted with history Dunked in the sea to give them a patina of age, sculptures that feel timeless

Bill Viola (1951-2024) - a personal tribute Video art and the transcendent

In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine 1900-1930s, Royal Academy review - famous avant-garde Russian artists who weren't Russian after all A glimpse of important Ukrainian artists

Francis Alÿs: Ricochets, Barbican review - fun for the kids, yet I was moved to tears How to be serious and light hearted at the same time

Gavin Jantjes: To Be Free, Whitechapel Gallery review - a sweet and sour response to horrific circumstances Seething anger is cradled within beautiful images

Laura Aldridge / Andrew Sim, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh review - lightness and joy Two Scottish artists explore childhood and play

Follow @theartsdesk