Dinah Diwan

Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Dinah Diwan left for Italy in 1975 when the civil war broke out, then joined her family, who was living between Montreal and Paris. Trained as an architect, she graduated cum laude from ENS- Paris La Villette. She created her own studio in Paris where, for 20 years, her practice as an architect has included residential and commercial projects in France and Tunisia.

Alongside her professional commissions, Diwan has been an innovative painter and ceramicist. In the 1990s, she started experimenting with paint, creating collages with illegible writing on paper, canvas, fabrics, and frosted glass. Her art also deploys overt references to architectural elements, such as city grids, gardens and maps. Diwan’s work has been exhibited at the Galerie Esther Woerdehoff in Paris, at Over the Influence in Los Angeles, and at the Galerie Janine Rubeiz in Beirut.

CV

1962  Born in Beirut, Lebanon

         Lives and work in Los Angeles

EDUCATION

1987  Graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris

ACTIVITY

1986  Launch of Studio17 Architecture & Design practice in Paris for commercial & residential projects

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2000  Peintures  & Collages, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris

2004  Signes Crus, Signes Cuits, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris

2008  J’appartiens Au Dehors, Galerie Racine, Paris

2016  OVERwriting in UNDERdrive, Rumba Gallery, Los Angeles

2019  Wandering City, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & FAIRS

2017  Beirut Art Fair, Beirut. Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris

2018  Archisable, Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris

2018  HOW THEY RAN, Over The Influence Gallery, Los Angeles

2018  Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Abu Dhabi. Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut

2021 Esprit Urbain, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France

2021 Art Paris, Paris. Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France

2021 MENART Fair, Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris. Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France

2022 MENART Fair, Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris. Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France

2022 Art Paris, Paris. Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France

2023 30 Years of Colors, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut

ILLUSTRATION

2005  Cover, AL-SÎRA I and AL-SÎRA II, Mahmoud Hussein, Editions Grasset

2007  Cover, The Ethnic Paris Cookbook, Charlotte Puckette and Olivia Snaije, DK Publishing, New York

2008  Cover and illustrations, La nuit se retourne & J’appartiens au dehors, Pierrick de Chermont. Editions Librairie Galerie Racine, Paris

2017  Cover, Ninette of Sin Street. By Vitalis Danon, edited with an introduction and notes by Lia Brozgal and Sarah Abrevaya Stein,   

         Stanford University Press

SELECTED PRESS

2018  Interview, Curator, Amanda Quinn Olivar, Los Angeles (Link)

2019  “(Re)faire tous les Beyrouth à pied avec Dinah Diwan,” L'Orient le Jour, Zéna Zalzal, Beirut, (Link)

2019  بيروت دينا ديوان معرضاً طوبوغرافياً تشكيلياً الرسّامة المهندِسة تحوّل أمكنة المدينة خرائط للذاكرة

         An-Nahar, Akl Awit, (Link)  

PUBLICATION

2004  “Dinah Diwan, Signes crus, signes cuits," “Signes crus, signes cuits” exhibition catalogue, essay by Joan Simon, Imprimerie

Arte/Maeght, Paris, (Link)

2016 Los Angeles : OVERwriting in UNDERdrive. Text and artwork. Translated from French by Jane Teresa Kuntz. Published by Atelier

International Du Grand Paris in Les formes de la Métropole, un inachèvement perpétuel- Antoine Grumbach. (Link)

2018  Archisable, Tina Dassault, Editions Xavier Barral, Paris (Link)

2019  “Dinah Diwan: Wandering City,” Art & Culture Today, Nélida Nassar (Link)