ABOUT

Rad Hourani is an interdisciplinary artist whose work transcends categorization, exploring identity politics and critiquing societal labels. Utilizing mediums such as sculpture, painting, architecture, photography, costume, performance, textile, printmaking, text, video, sound, instruction, and curation, Rad challenges the constraints imposed by conventional norms and boundaries.

At the core of Rad's art is a critical examination of labels and constructs that confine human identity. By exploring geopolitical, religious, sexual, and economic systems, Rad's hybrid approach transforms these structures into evolving manifestations of activism, as seen in diverse projects. The goal is to foster a pluralist perspective that unites rather than divides, promoting boundless self-expression. Rad perceives humanity as an interconnected ecosystem of cultures, championing nonconformity as the essence of individuality.

Rad's commitment to challenging institutional formalism and aesthetics is evident in a transdisciplinary vision that embraces decompartmentalization across art forms, including architecture, as demonstrated in the Spaces projects. This approach underscores the interconnectedness of disciplines and the importance of a limitless understanding of human identity. Rad’s work honors art’s ability to activate the senses and connect diverse concepts.

As an artist classified as BIPOC, queer, and neurodivergent, Rad's artistic practice confronts cultural generalizations and rigid hierarchies. Through meticulous exploration of categorization genetics, Rad’s research-driven processes stimulate discussions on prejudice, inclusion, and inequality. This examination aims to liberate societal preconceptions by highlighting the evolving connotations of labeling. Rad critiques the discriminatory bases of nationalism, racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, and authoritarianism, promoting a pluralist perspective that emphasizes union and inclusivity.

Between 2005 and 2007, Rad reached a milestone with the invention of the first Gender-Neutral Patterns and a non-gendered sizing system for a complete unisex wardrobe. This revolutionary concept, introduced via a Runway performance, marked a historical shift in the fashion industry by challenging gender norms and initiating dialogue on non-binarity. Rad’s contributions are groundbreaking within counterculture and stand out alongside historical fashion trends like the garconne look of the 1920s. Rad’s oeuvre proposes non-gendered definitions of cuts and forms, empowering individual narratives through the medium of costume. Rad’s subsequent achievements in Haute Couture, including the 2013 introduction of the first Unisex Couture collection, further cement a commitment to redefining attire’s role in societal discourse. Upholding a baseline of equality, Rad Hourani’s genderless innovations paved the way for future boundary-pushing creations, employing non-binary terms such as non-gendered, agender, genderfluid, all genders, ungendered, human, and others.

Rad’s body of work celebrates art’s potential to activate the senses and connect diverse concepts. Each project invites us to question societal structures, reflecting on the complexities of individuality, communities, and the human condition. Rad's narratives encourage introspection and envisioning an existence free from limitations and conditioning.

In Rad’s art, the act of creation becomes a conduit for reflection, discovery, and connection. Rad’s practice opens dialogues on inclusion through collaborative projects on feminism, diversity, and peace, ensuring marginalized communities have a voice in artistic discourse. Rad’s journey showcases the evolution of a visionary artist, inspiring meaningful discourse about identity and the potential of unlimited human expression.

 "I STARTED CREATING WITH A SENSE OF CURIOSITY AND INNOCENCE DRIVEN BY MY 'NO-BACKGROUND' BACKGROUND. NO SCHOOL. NO TELLY. NO BOUNDARIES. NO FORMATTING. I LIKE THE IDEA OF A WORLD THAT WE COULD LIVE AND SHAPE BY OURSELVES, ONLY BY OBSERVING. EACH OUR OWN. MY AESTHETICS HAVE ERUPTED FROM THIS WORLD OF MINE. THEY ARE GENDERLESS, AGELESS AND LIMITLESS. THEY COME FROM NO NATION, NO RACE, NO RELIGION, YET THEY COULD BE HOME ANYWHERE, ANYTIME. THEY EXUDE THE ESSENCE OF TIMELESSNESS FOR ANTI-CONFORMIST INDIVIDUALS." Rad Hourani

Rad has been invited to teach and lecture in cities worldwide, including Seoul, Dubai, Beijing, Berlin, Tbilisi, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and London, and at institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, FIT Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, UQÀM, and École du Louvre. Rad has served as a jury member for numerous art and film festivals, curated solo and group exhibitions, and collaborated with the LGBTQIA2S+ community and contemporary artists like Shirin Neshat, Larry Clark, Rihanna, Édouard Lock, Lady Gaga, Jared Leto, and Yoko Ono. Rad's diverse knowledge and creative expertise have been implemented beyond the artistic or academic community in private consulting, mentoring, and art direction for countless establishments. Rad Hourani’s work has been featured internationally in publications such as the New York Times, Interview, Vogue, WSJ, Aesthetica, Time, V, National Geographic, Surface, i-D, The Cut, Vanity Fair, Dazed, Rolling Stone, BBC, Harper’s Bazaar, The Guardian, Forbes, and Nowness, and is held in private collections and museums worldwide.

This nonconformist artist seeks to propose, transmit, collaborate, and nurture the idea we might have of the arts through activism. Rad's work has been presented in partnership with the Graham Foundation, the Canadian Center for Architecture (CCA), the City of Chicago, the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCASE), the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater, Sherbrooke University, Wesleyan University, the Centre Culturel Canadien à Paris, and endorsed by Sidney Toledano of Christian Dior Couture, Franca Sozzani and Anna Wintour, the Palazzo Morando Museum, Phoebe Greenberg of Fondation PHI, Pierre Bergé, and François-Henri Pinault, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Arts Council, Nick Cave, Fonderie Darling, the Arsenal Contemporary Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Brancusi gallery. Rad participated in residencies at Artexte and is a grant recipient of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council of the Arts.

Rad Hourani's work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions, notably at the Jardin du Palais-Royal in Paris (2009), the Yvon Lambert Gallery in New York (2010), the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2012), Tate Modern in London (2013), the Phi Centre in Montréal (2013), the MU Hybrid Art House in Eindhoven (2014), the Centre Culturel Canadien in Paris (2015), the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art in Herning (2015), Arsenal Contemporary Art in Montréal (2015), the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York (2016), the San Jose Museum of Contemporary Art (2016), the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2017), the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (2019), the Noguchi Museum in New York (2019), the Savina Museum in Seoul (2019), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux (2019), the A.K.T; in Pforzheim (2021), and Artexte in Montréal (2023).

 PRODUCTION BY  NEUTRAL-WORLD

© 2024 RAD HOURANI

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