Etel Adnan

Born in 1925 in Beirut, Adnan studied at the Sorbonne in Paris before moving to teach philosophy at the University of California, where she began her painting practice.

This particular work relates to an unexplored side of Adnan’s works, the aesthetic of urbanisation. The remarkable piece here links significantly to her 8mm films produced in the 1980’s, where we witness reflections of skyscrapers, traffic, polluted air and fog - clear indications and reminders of urban life. There is a section in her film, where the audience witnesses the reflection of yellow taxis against the window panes of glass buildings from several angles - the dynamic yellow rectangles brushed at an angle echo the images of city taxis against darkened windows.  

The film was showcased at Sfeir Semler Gallery, it has been edited in 2012 by Eugenie Paultre based on Adnan's films from the 1980s