It has long been my opinion that the architecture of Hieronymus Bosch is under-appreciated.  His menagerie of diabolical critters understandably attracts attention away from the lace-like turrets and terraces that set the stage for their mischief.  Today in Chelsea, such a structure of whimsy is displayed in an arresting three dimensions.  

   

The work is weightily entitled Record of a Mortal Universe, and represents the latest installation of Brooklyn-based, Syrian-born sculptor Diana Al-Hadid.  It is difficult to tell just what is going on in the delicate composition of wood, steal, plaster, and fiberglass.  A staircase is suggested, as is a piano and a gramophone.  Indeed, the sculpture combines a bundle of oddly matched referents that imply the dream-logic of mad genius a la Freud and Dali.  The work is conceptually as well as technically ambitious.  The wall text mentions something about a hero’s fall from grace.  Al-Hadid’s narrative is not uninteresting, but neither is it necessary.  The true strength of the piece lies rather in the unique opportunity it presents to stroll around a splendidly surreal object of delicate design and imposing proportions.

- Sophia Powers

(*Images from top to bottom:  Diana Al-Hadid, Diana Al-Hadid, October 19 - November 21, 2007; Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Record of a Mortal Universe (detail), 2007, mixed media, 128 x 138 x 106 in, Courtesy of Perry Rubenstein Gallery.  Diana Al-Hadid, Diana Al-Hadid, October 19 - November 21, 2007; Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Record of a Mortal Universe, 2007, mixed media, 128 x 138 x 106 in, Courtesy of Perry Rubenstein Gallery.)