Douglas Abdell

Douglas Abdell (b.1947, Boston), lives and works in Málaga, Spain. Born to an Italian mother and Lebanese father, Abdell is a sculptor who also produces paintings, drawings, engravings, and tapestries dominated by calligraphic signs. His work explores the deep bond between words, images, sound, and form in intimate and political subjectivity. The artist believes that this link has been particularly close and significant in the ancient languages, now extinct, once spoken in his family’s countries of origin: Phoenician and Etruscan. Frequently using found materials in his works, Abdell is known for appropriating the aesthetic languages of various cultures, namely ancient Middle Eastern culture and contemporary street art.

Abdell’s work has been exhibited internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at MAMCO, Geneva (2022) and Museum Cádiz, Cádiz (2018). His work is included in significant international collections, including the Heckscher Museum of Art, New York; the Sursock Museum, Beirut; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C; H. H. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Massachusetts; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth; Rose Art Museum, Massachusetts; Stanford University, California; and Centre National Des Arts Plastiques, Paris.