ICA Miami presents ‘Huguette Caland: Outside the Line,’ the first solo exhibition of Lebanese artist Huguette Caland’s works in an American museum from May 3rd until October 6th, 2024. Known for her provocative abstract art, Caland has recently gained recognition for her figurative and abstract paintings that depict the body with subtle lines and vibrant colours, blending intimacy, eroticism, and boldness known as ‘Bribes de corps’ (Body Parts). Curated by Donna Honarpisheh, this exhibition showcases paintings from her ‘Bribes de corps’ (1973–76) series and related works, highlighting her focus on the body and her formal experimentation in drawing and abstract painting. Caland often used her own body as a starting point, portraying it through humour, sexual expression, and innovative formal techniques.
May 3 – Oct 6, 2024. Photography by Zachary Balber.
Born in Beirut to the first president of independent Lebanon, she grew up in a cosmopolitan, politically charged environment. Before the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, Beirut’s art scene was marked by freedom and experimentation. Caland was an active participant, creating drawings, paintings, and kaftans that laid the groundwork for her exploration of the female form.
In 1970, Caland moved to Paris to further her art practice, where she intensified the expressive and erotic potential of line and colour, culminating in the ‘Bribes de corps’ series. These works focus on the body and its erotic expressions, using close-ups that often make the body unrecognisable, blending minimalism with bold references. Her earlier works bridged figuration and abstraction, but ‘Bribes de corps’ cemented her status in Abstract Expressionism and Colour Field painting. These pieces carry autobiographical elements, transforming the body’s curves and orifices into abstractions that resemble landscapes or nonhuman shapes, subverting idealised female forms and challenging viewers’ perceptions.
May 3 – Oct 6, 2024. Photography by Zachary Balber.
Caland’s artworks is part of collections worldwide, including LACMA, Hammer Museum, British Museum, Tate, MoMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Centre Pompidou, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Fonds national d’art contemporain, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah Art Foundation, and the Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation in Beirut.
May 3 – Oct 6, 2024. Photography by Zachary Balber.
Location: ICA Miami, USA
Dates: May 3 – Oct 6, 2024