Mona Hatoum
A Bigger Splash

A Bigger Splash

©2009 Mona Hatoum

A Bigger Splash
A Bigger Splash
ArtistPalestinian, born Lebanon, 1952
CulturePalestinian
Titles
  • A Bigger Splash
Date2009
MediumMurano glass, edition of 6, Artist's Proof 2/2
DimensionsOverall installation variable
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by contemporary@mfah 2015, the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, and Rosanette and Harry H. Cullen
Object number2015.418
Non exposé

Explore Further

Object Type
Description

Working with Murano artisans in Venice,
Mona Hatoum used traditional blown-glass methods to create these haunting
blood-red sculptures, seemingly caught in the moment of spattering across the
floor. While inevitably raising the specter of slaughter, whether in a field of
battle or through random terrorism, A
Bigger Splash
can also be read as an appeal to end violence, and as an act
of sacrifice and redemption. 



There are several thematic and formal
sources for this work, ranging from Renaissance painting to stop-action
photography. The title is taken from David Hockney’s A Bigger Splash, 1967, which depicts a Los Angeles swimming pool at
the moment when a swimmer has just dived in. Hockney has commented: “When you
photograph a splash, you’re freezing a moment and it becomes something else. I
realize that a splash could never be seen this way in real life, it happens too
quickly.” Whether Hatoum’s appropriation of Hockney’s title is intended to be
ironic is left to the viewer; however, “freezing a moment and it becomes
something else” is central to Hatoum’s nuanced treatment of image and meaning
throughout her work.




ProvenanceThe artist; [Alexander and Bonin, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2015.
Exhibition History"Interior Landscape: Mona Hatoum" organized by the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, 2009

"Mona Hatoum," Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires, March 28 - June 14, 2015

"Mona Hatoum," Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, December 6, 2014 - March 1, 2015

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

The Visitors
Ragnar Kjartansson
2012
Nine-channel video, edition of 6, artist's proof 1/2
2018.54.A-.I
Apsáalooke Roses
Wendy Red Star
2016
Lithograph in colors and inkjet prints, printed chine-collé, on wove paper, artist's proof 2/2, aside an edition of 12
2019.290
Mike Kelley, 14
Jennifer Steinkamp
2007–2008
Single-channel video
2011.1020
Worry Will Vanish Dissolution
Pipilotti Rist
2014
Four-channel video and sound installation, edition 3/3
2017.115
To Die Upon a Kiss
Fred Wilson
2011
Murano glass, edition 4/6
2013.94
Overall recto.
Philip Guston
1980
Lithograph on wove paper, artist's proof 2/11
2023.2
Overall recto.
Betye Saar
1962
Soft ground and hard ground etching with spit bite etching on wove paper, artist's proof #2
2023.15
Untitled
Santiago Cucullu
2006
Lithograph, artist's proof 2/3
2008.425.5
Untitled
Santiago Cucullu
2006
Lithograph, artist's proof 2/3
2008.425.4
Untitled
Santiago Cucullu
2006
Lithograph, artist's proof 2/3
2008.425.6
Untitled
Santiago Cucullu
2006
Lithograph, artist's proof 2/3
2008.425.3
Untitled
Santiago Cucullu
2006
Lithograph, artist's proof 2/3
2008.425.2