Kehrer Verlag and ATHR Gallery present Muhannad Shono. Works [2014-2024]

Edited by Nat Muller
Texts by Hala Auji, Nat Muller, Todd Reisz, Alison Sperling
Designed by Mainstudio (Edwin van Gelder)
Stiff softcover with open thread stitching
23,1 x 30,3 cm
192 pages
140 color and b/w illustrations
English: ISBN 978-3-96900-158-5 2024
Euro 58 / USD 66

 

Muhannad Shono. Works [2014–2024] is a comprehensive monograph that offers the first critical overview of the ground-breaking Saudi artist’s oeuvre to date. Edited by curator and writer Nat Muller and featuring texts by Islamic art historian Hala Auji, architect and writer Todd Reisz, and scholar of science fiction and eco-criticism Alison Sperling, the book positions Shono as one of Saudi Arabia’s most original and daring artistic voices. A strong conceptual treatment by acclaimed graphic designer Edwin van Gelder (Mainstudio) reflects the evocative imaginary inherent in Shono’s work. The designer captures Shono’s sculptural conceptualization of space and unexpected use of natural and industrial materials in expressive detail, texture, and contrast, including numerous double-page spreads and an entire chapter printed in silver ink on specialty black paper.

 

The book’s three sections—myth, lines, and regeneration—each demonstrate how the artist’s practice resonates with wider issues facing humanity today, what editor Nat Muller describes as a world “beset by accumulative disaster, from climate catastrophe, perpetual war, and economic disparity to growing (ethno)nationalist populism and resource depletion.

Informed by his family’s history of migration and an interest in abandoned, uninhabited places, Shono explores notions of non-belonging through a practice structured by speculative and generative narratives. He heightens the tension between the architectural logic of the built environment and that of the natural landscape. Unrestricted by scale, medium, concept, or technology— from an expansive site-specific installation for the Saudi Arabian Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale to intimate, gestural works of ink on paper from his early practice—his work references and disrupts cultural lore, spiritual texts, and mythology.

 

The most recent pieces in the book extend from a series developed for a spring 2024 exhibition curated by Nat Muller. Shono transformed an industrial waste material—over 50,000 kilograms of reclaimed black foundry sand—into potent and at times unsettling sculptures, works on paper, and large-scale installations. Produced at a seismic juncture in the region and the world at large, this series hints at the simultaneous potential for both decay and creation, resonating sharply with topical ecological, social and political concerns.

 

The book launches on 17 October 2024 with a reception at the bookshop of Palais de Tokyo, Paris, featuring a conversation between artist Muhannad Shono and editor Nat Muller, followed by a book signing. For further details contact the gallery. The launch coincides with ATHR Gallery’s inaugural participation in Art Basel Paris (Booth F16), featuring work by Shono, among other represented artists.