TERESA SOLAR ABBOUD
b. 1985, SpainTeresa Solar Abboud is a multidisciplinary artist known for her large-scale sculptural installations, works in clay, drawing, video, and photography.
Her work has been featured in important institutional presentations, including in the 59th Venice Biennale; at CA2M in Madrid and MACBA in Barcelona in 2024; and in on the High Line in New York in 2024. In 2025, her traveling solo exhibition Bird Dream Machine opened at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, and a solo show at Kunstverein Hannover in Germany and a public sculpture commission for the Hayward Gallery was also announced.
Artistic Practice & Themes
Solar Abboud’s practice often alludes to ideas around transformation, exploring ideas of resistance, insulation, and bodily or geological transformation via forms that evoke organic and synthetic bodily forms—such as throats, tongues, pipes, and hybrid appendages. She is best known for sculptural installations composed of contrasting materials, especially clay, which she considers both a geological and metaphorical substance for self-protection, isolation, and the possibility of metamorphis.
Creating work that often exist as ‘families’ or ecosystems, Solar Abboud’s installations often take comprise different shapes and materialities which evoke themes of mutation, progress, and fracture. They particularly appear to delve into the contrast and combination of the macro (civilisational) and micro (personal) narratives. Her own experiences—like sports injuries and speech stuttering—inform this approach.
While modeled after natural forms, her sculptural exteriors often have an electric hue and machine-like sheen, blurring the boundary between real and imagined, sometimes suggestive of alien plant and animal body parts.
Notable Exhibitions & Projects
- Biennale di Venezia (2022): Featured in the 59th International Art Exhibition, The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani.
Solo Exhibitions:
- Machine Dream Bird (CA2M, Madrid, 2024) and Bird Machine Dream (MACBA, Barcelona, 2025), showcasing immersive environments of sculpture, drawing, and installation.
- Ride, Ride, Ride (Matadero Madrid and Index Foundation, Stockholm)
- Flotation Line (Der TANK, Basel)
Institutional Commissions:
- Major site-specific installation for the High Line, New York (2024)
- Projects at Kunstverein Hannover and Hayward Gallery, London (2025—26)
Representation & Collections
In July 2025, Lehmann Maupin announced representation of Solar Abboud’s practice, in collaboration with her Madrid gallery Travesía Cuatro. Her work is held in the collections of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Spain), MACBA (Barcelona), TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (Madrid), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin), and others.
Teresa Solar Abboud FAQs
Who is Teresa Solar Abboud?
Teresa Solar Abboud is a multidisciplinary Spanish Egyptian artist, born in 1985 in Madrid, known for her powerful sculptural installations, drawing, video, and photography. She lives and works in Madrid.
What are Teresa Solar Abboud main artistic themes?
Her practice explores translation, bodily experience, transformation, resistance, and the boundaries between natural and artificial, with a particular focus on how materials can embody both metaphorical and physical qualities.
What materials does Teresa Solar Abboud work with?
Teresa Solar Abboud is best known for her work with clay, but also uses fiberglass, resin, aluminum, drawing, photography, and video. Clay, for Solar Abboud, is a key material representing protection, earth, and transformation.
Which notable exhibitions has Teresa Solar Abboud participated in?
Solar Abboud exhibited at the 59th Venice Biennale (The Milk of Dreams, 2022), and has had solo shows at CA2M, Madrid (Machine Dream Bird, 2024), and MACBA, Barcelona (Bird Machine Dream, 2025), among others.
Where can I see Teresa Solar Abboud work?
Her sculptures are included in major museum and private collections, and she is represented by Lehmann Maupin and Travesía Cuatro (Madrid). Recent projects can be seen in locations such as the High Line, New York, and installations at Hayward Gallery, London have also been announced.
Who represents Teresa Solar Abboud?
Lehmann Maupin (New York, London, Hong Kong, Seoul) and Travesía Cuatro (Madrid, Guadalajara/Mexico City) represent her.
Ocula | 2025
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