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Sanctuary

Adel Abidin

(b. 1973, Iraq)

Adel Abidin’s design for Sanctuary comes from a 2017 relief sculpture titled Deployed. Based on a photograph of soldiers en route to a military assignment, the work explores his musings about individual soldiers’ feelings as they head to battle: Are they afraid, worried, determined, hopeful as they move into the unknown? The uncanny similarity to images of crowded train cars and boats transporting political prisoners and refugees prompts correspondent thoughts about these displaced people. Abidin’s composition concurrently reveals the difficulty in reading the individuals—humanizing each soldier or refugee—and seeing them as real people with relatable personal experiences. Here, the soldiers’ expressions and gestures are elusive; their bodies and helmets meld together in a monochromatic sea. Yet the classical perspective and central vanishing point draw viewers into the scene, inviting a pause on each figure and urging contemplation of each soldier’s story.

 

Projects

  • Overview
  • On View
  • Past
    • Sanctuary
      • Cornelia Parker
      • Tammam Azzam
      • Sanctuary Volunteer
      • Uman
      • Hank Willis Thomas
      • Miguel Angel Ríos
      • Rashid Rana
      • Ranu Mukherjee
      • Aimé Mpane
      • Julio César Morales
      • Meleko Mokgosi
      • Sanaz Mazinani
      • Hayv Kahraman
      • Emily Jacir
      • Alfredo Jaar
      • Shirazeh Houshiary
      • Thaier Helal
      • Susan Hefuna
      • Mona Hatoum
      • Sherin Guirguis
      • Jeffrey Gibson
      • Nicholas Galanin
      • Ana Teresa Fernández
      • Brendan Fernandes
      • Marcos Ramírez ERRE
      • Ala Ebtekar
      • Jamal Cyrus
      • Mohammad Bozorgi
      • Sandow Birk
      • Diana Al-Hadid
      • Ammar al-Beik
      • John Akomfrah
      • Ai Weiwei
      • Shiva Ahmadi
      • Arwa Abouon
      • Adel Abidin
      • Hamra Abbas
    • Home Land Security
    • @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz
    • Art About Place: FOR-SITE Foundation at the Presidio
    • International Orange
    • Presidio Habitats
    • The Marvelous Museum: A Mark Dion Project
    • Pae White: In Between the Outside-In
    • Chris Drury: Mushrooms | Clouds
    • Shi Guorui: Reproduction and Refashioning
    • Richard Long: The Path Is the Place Is the Line
    • New Work by Cornelia Parker
  • Virtual Tour: Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio
  • Artist Programs

Artist Editions

  • Syjuco DSC_2956a copy
  • alfarrowmultiple
  • michelepredmultipleopen
  • trevorpaglen-challenge-coin_rdh_001

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Field Notes

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    “Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly” Virtual Cinema Release

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