Delirious Matter

In her first major public art project, Diana Al-Hadid (American, b. Aleppo, Syria 1981) combines aluminum, steel, fiberglass, concrete, polymer modified gypsum, and pigment in four sculptures installed across the Williams campus. Al-Hadid is best known for creating ghostly white sculptures that pivot among architectural ruin, figuration, and abstraction. Delirious Matter conjures architecture that evokes archaeological remains, human figures that seep into cascading form, and expanses that hover between interior and exterior. The sculptures are located accross the Williams College campus, in front of Berkshire Quad, Hopkins Hall, and the Sawyer Library Quad.

Diana Al-Hadid: Delirious Matter was commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy, New York, and was first exhibited by Mad. Sq. Art, the contemporary art program of the Madison Square Park Conservancy. The installation at Williams College is made possible by a generous contribution from Seton Melvin ’82 and the Williams College Public Art Fund, established by the Class of 1961.

Diana Al-Hadid, Delirious Matter, 2018. Collection of the artist, courtesy Marianne Boesky Gallery. © Diana Al-Hadid. The exhibition was organized by Madison Park Conservancy, New York.

Delirious Matter is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Substantial exhibition support for Delirious Matter is provided by Marianne Boesky Gallery, Stacey Goergen, and Showman Fabricators.

Major support for Mad. Sq. Art is provided by Charina Endowment Fund, Toby Devan Lewis, Pentagram Design, Ronald A. Pizzuti, Sorgente Group of America, Thornton Tomasetti, Tiffany & Co., and Anonymous. Substantial support is provided by George W. Ahl III, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, Lenore G. Tawney Foundation, The New York EDITION, Mad. Sq. Art Council, Danny and Audrey Meyer, The Rudin Family, The Sol LeWitt Fund for Artist Work, and Fern and Lenard Tessler. Ace Hotel New York is the Official Hotel Partner of Madison Square Park Conservancy.

Mad. Sq. Art is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Mad. Sq. Art is supported in part with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Madison Square Park Conservancy is a public/private partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.