In Paris, Simone Fattal reflects on sculpture, war, and the enduring power of the human form
_Art Basel’s Meet the artists series presents contemporary creatives shaping today’s cultural landscape_
Filmed in her Paris studio, this film follows artist and writer Simone Fattal, whose life and work have unfolded across continents. Born in Damascus, Fattal grew up in Lebanon before moving to the United States, where she lived and worked for many years alongside her partner, artist and writer Etel Adnan. After decades in Sausalito, California, the two later relocated to Paris, where Fattal now lives and works.
In this episode of Art Basel’s ‘Meet the artists,’ Fattal moves between clay and bronze, sculpture and painting, reflecting on war, form, and the human figure – which she sees as fundamental to what it means to be human. ‘We should be standing up to everything we can. Ideas, events, wars, anything,’ she says. Drawing on a life shaped by conflict, she rejects the idea that her sculptural figures are fragments, insisting that each one is complete, even if it might not appear so.
The film briefly steps inside the renowned Susse Fondeur, offering a glimpse of the the figure Apollon (2026) in production as the sculpture takes shape in bronze – before returning to Fattal’s studio. The work is being presented by Karma International at Art Basel Qatar.
Simone Fattal is represented by kaufmann repetto (Milan, New York), Balice Hertling (Paris), Hubert Winter (Vienna), Karma International (Zurich), and Greene Naftali (New York).
Film Virgile Texier
Cinematographer Jacques le Gouis
Sound Renaud Duguet
Edit Oscar Dewatz
Art Basel
Executive Editor Coline Milliard
Senior Editor Alicia Reuter
Video Commissioner Jeanne-Salomé Rochat
Creative Producer Akiel Gallina
Editorial Assistant Lama Yaghi
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