HUMA BHABHA. LIVIN' THINGS

 
JUNE 10—OCTOBER 29, 2023
 
M LEUVEN | LEUVEN, BELGIUM
 
Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2021, Collection Mario Testino
Courtesy of the artist & Xavier Hufkens, Brussels. Image: Adam Reich
 

Pakistani-American artist Huma Bhabha (b. 1962, Karachi, Pakistan; lives and works in Poughkeepsie, NY) is known for her distinct visual language, which focuses on the human figure in all its expressive potential. Her practice consists of sculpture, photography and drawings with ink, pastel and collage using everyday materials.

In questioning the human condition, her work explores a wide range of references such as Ancient Greek, early African, Egyptian and Indian sculpture, modernism, expressionism and contemporary popular imagery. It is equally steeped in contemporary inspirations such as science fiction and horror films, current events and memories of Karachi. Her monumental sculptures in striking material combinations hover between the recognizable, human or animal and the otherworldly. In powerful and sometimes unsettling works, she explores themes such as colonialism, war, displacement and memories of place. She interweaves her works with allusions to environmental collapse, disasters of war, mass extinction and subsequent regeneration and transformation.

M shows a selection from her oeuvre, including her well-known androgynous totem figures and monumental drawings. The works are presented in a custom-made installation by M.