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A Technicolor Hadid arrives at the National Portrait Gallery
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent1 Oct 2008
One of Britain's most colourful architects has been immortalised in a portrait as vivid as she is.
Zaha Hadid, 57, joins the ranks of the great and the good in a new commission by the National Portrait Gallery.
The work has been created by Michael Craig-Martin, the artist who taught the Young British Artists including Damien Hirst.
It consists of a live LCD monitor, which hangs on a wall like a painting, with a line drawing of Hadid in one of her distinctive Issey Miyake jackets.
The intense colours in the portrait shift over time with changes controlled by computer software. The process echoes the computer-aided design process Hadid uses in her own work.
It is being unveiled only months after construction began on her Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Games.
For years, Iraqi-born Hadid won competitions for buildings which were never built, such as the Cardiff Bay Opera House. Designs that have been built include Maggie's Cancer Care Centre in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and a complex for BMW in Liepzig.
She became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 2004 and has been based in London since 1980. Hadid said it was an honour to be included in the gallery.
"Since I was a child visiting the gallery with my parents, the collection has offered me moments of reflection and fascination. And I have a great respect for Michael Craig-Martin's work," she said.
Sandy Nairne, the gallery's director, described it as "startling and magical, reflecting the brilliance of both sitter and artist".
Zaha Hadid by Michael Craig-Martin, funded by JP Morgan through the Fund for New Commissions, goes up at the National Portrait Gallery today.
Reader views (1)
Well, well, well.....the NPG has hit a new low here.
A mock Warhol copy, done by "the teacher of Damien Hirst" which some would feel is a double-edged recommendation!!
This shows neither subtlety, understanding of colour, or originality. It is a very poor likeness of the subject, extremely unflattering, and....well, someone please tell me it is a joke, I cannot take it seriously.
- Sydney Marks, London, UK, 01/10/2008 21:33
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