Lawrence Abu Hamdan. Air Conditioning

Lawrence Abu Hamdan. Air Conditioning

Emblematic of Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s (b. 1985, Amman) interest in the political dimension of sound, the installation Air Conditioning (2022) charts the violations of Lebanese air space by Israeli military aviation between 2007 and 2021, following the Israeli-Lebanese conflict of 2006. Created using data from the United Nations Digital Library, the work consists of fifteen large format photographic images generated by an animation software, accompanied by a video. This is the first presentation of this major work in a museum since it was acquired in 2023 by Mudam.

Biography

Lawrence Abu Hamdan (b. 1985, Amman) has held solo exhibitions at the FRAC Franche-Comté, Besançon (2023), Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (2023), Museum of Modern Art, New York (2023); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2022), Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah (2022); Spike Island, Bristol (2022); Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm (2021); Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin (2019); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2018) and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018). He received the Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film in 2023 and the Turner Prize, together with nominated artists Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo and Tai Shani, in 2019. Abu Hamdan’s work is held in major collections including the Tate Modern, London; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musée national d'art moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia, Madrid; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Arts Council Collection, London and Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah. He lives and works in Dubai.