Huma Bhabha

A fly appeared, and disappeared

A fly appeared, and disappeared is Huma Bhabha’s first monographic exhibition in a French institution. The artist was born in 1962 in Karachi, Pakistan, and studied in the United States, first at the Rhode Island School of Design, then at Columbia University. Now based in Poughkeepsie, New York, Huma Bhabha brings together different eras, materials, and iconic forms to create works that bring forth anthropomorphic and hybrid presences by constantly adding, layering, and cutting materials.

The figure is ubiquitous in her work, always suggesting an ambiguous otherness, whether distant or near, ancient or unborn. This exceptional artist draws on an infinite repertoire of references, borrowing from both the academic world and popular culture, from ancient statuary to science fiction films, insisting on a universalism of forms.

Some fifty works will be displayed at MO.CO.: cork and polystyrene sculptures, bronzes, drawings, engravings, ink on C-prints, and ceramics form a welcoming horde, guiding us through the artist’s own syncretism.

The exhibition highlights motifs inherent to Huma Bhabha’s work, such as achronicity, layering and assemblage, fragmentation, hybridisation, otherness, the group forming a pack. Shown in France for the first time, this unprecedented selection of works will astonish and amaze, but also highlight the complexity of an ever-changing world, which the artist invokes without compromise, managing to always transcend it.

Exhibition developed in partnership with the M Leuven.

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Curator

Under the artistic direction of Numa Hambursin, general director of the MO.CO.
Vincent Honoré, Director of Exhibitions, Rahmouna Boutayeb and Pauline Faure, Curators, assisted by Alexis Loisel-Montambaux

MO.CO. benefits from the financial support of the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs Occitanie, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, the City of Montpellier.

Catalogue

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue, published in both French and English by Snoeck Edition.The graphic design was entrusted to Atelier Tout va bien. It includes unpublished texts by Numa Hambursin and Eva Barois De Caevel, as well as an interview between Huma Bhabha and Vincent Honoré.