King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC)

In 2013, Brian Clarke began designing a monumental mural, which developed into a wall-mounted sculpture, in collaboration with the architect Zaha Hadid for her building, the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Riyadh. While this work was never installed, paintings, maquettes and visualisations trace Hadid and Clarke’s collaboration.

Studies in gesso and oil pastel, and oil paint and gold leaf, show initial plans for a mural which Clarke would paint in situ. The final design for a 1,291-square-foot cast-bronze sculpture translates this idea into the third dimension.