Huma Bhabha

David Zwirner is pleased to present concurrent exhibitions of work by Huma Bhabha (b. 1962) at the gallery’s 537 West 20th Street and 34 East 69th Street locations in New York. These are the gallery’s first presentations of Bhabha’s work since the announcement of her representation in 2022, and they follow the artist’s 2023 solo exhibition at M Leuven, Belgium, which recently traveled to MO.CO., Montpellier, France. In March 2024, three sculptures by Bhabha will be specially featured in the retrospective exhibition Julie Mehretu: Ensemble at Palazzo Grassi, Venice. In April 2024, a large-scale installation by Bhabha, commissioned by Public Art Fund, will be unveiled at Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York.

Bhabha creates layered and nuanced sculptures and drawings that center on a reinvention of the figure and its expressive possibilities. Her formally innovative practice pulls from a wide range of references, from those that span the history of art to quotidian influences such as science fiction and horror films and the makeshift structures and detritus of urban life. Instinctive and rigorous, her work brings diverse aesthetic, cultural, and psychological touchstones into contact with matters of surface, materiality, and formal construction. Featured at West 20th Street are new sculptures, varying in size from small to monumental; on view at East 69th Street are new works on paper and smaller-scale sculptures. Together, the exhibitions highlight Bhabha’s ability to move between a wide range of media and forms, creating deeply resonant hybrid figures that seem to simultaneously dwell in the past, present, and future.

Image: Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2023 (detail)

Location

34 East 69th Street New York

Dates

February 22—April 6, 2024

Opening Reception

Thursday, February 22, 5–7 PM

Gallery Hours

Tues—Sat 10am–6pm

Artist

Huma Bhabha

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

“Like her sculpture, Bhabha's drawings—made on white paper and on photographs she makes expressly for that purpose—have a raw sensibility.… Her keen sense of the textural possibilities of mediums and their various combinations reflects a distinct physicality that is her hallmark in both drawing and sculpture.”

—Carter E. Foster, deputy director, Blanton Museum of Art

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

51 7/8 x 51 7/8 inches (131.8 x 131.8 cm)
Framed: 57 x 57 inches (144.8 x 144.8 cm)

The focal point of the exhibition at 69th Street is a suite of new works on paper, each one depicting a different head constructed from vibrant swaths and strokes of ink, acrylic, gouache, and pastel, as well as elements of collage.

Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2023 (detail)

Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2023 (detail)

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

32 1/2 x 22 1/4 inches (82.5 x 56.5 cm)
Framed: 34 x 25 3/4 inches (86.4 x 65.4 cm)

“As with the sculptures, there is never a particular narrative; that is something you have to make up for yourself. I give you clues, but my own interests stay in the background. What I love about the photographs is that they provide so much information, and my role is simply to add more.”

—Huma Bhabha

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

53 x 51 7/8 inches (134.6 x 131.8 cm)
Framed: 58 1/2 x 57 1/8 inches (148.6 x 145.1 cm)

An enduring and crucial aspect of her practice, Bhabha’s large-format multimedia drawings beckon the viewer with their exaggerated, ghoulish visages and unabashedly confrontational gazes.

Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2023 (detail)

Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2023 (detail)

“Many of her portraits adorned with animal clippings radiate with spiritual gazes, inviting viewers to find the lost connection between animals and humans. They are the artist’s plea for healing and restoring, to make it possible to create a transformative reality dedicated to the redemption of the individual, society, and Mother Earth from trauma.”

—Danielle Shang, curator and art historian

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2022

Ink, acrylic, gouache, pastel, and collage on chromogenic print

79 x 50 inches (200.7 x 127 cm)
Framed: 84 3/4 x 55 1/2 inches (215.3 x 141 cm)

Created using ink, acrylic, gouache, pastel, and collage on a photograph, the present work features a head whose gaze directly confronts the viewer. Here, the artist employs vibrant hues of blue and white, as well as two found photographs of primates in place of pupils, in order to create an almost otherworldly figure. The figure's nose, which the artist has left unpainted in order to reveal the underlying photograph, is composed of what appears to be weathered brick.

Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2022 (detail)

Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2022 (detail)

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

51 3/4 x 51 3/4 inches (131.4 x 131.4 cm)
Framed: 57 x 57 1/4 inches (144.8 x 145.4 cm)

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, oil stick, pastel, and collage on black and white photograph

80 x 50 inches (203.2 x 127 cm)
Framed: 85 5/8 x 55 5/8 inches (217.5 x 141.3 cm)

“Equally fascinating [were] the images—taped to a board that ran along one wall.… This expository display of the artist's research method laid bare not only the immediacy of her chosen materials, but also an intoxicating mix of her references, high and low.… Seeing Bhabha's visual mapping process in such close proximity to the rawness of her materials is thoroughly captivating. ”

—Eva Respini, deputy director, Vancouver Art Gallery

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Huma Bhabha’s studio, Poughkeepsie, New York. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Also on view at East 69th Street gallery are two more sculptures. Waddah takes the form of a lone petrified human figure—devoid of a face or identifying features—that rests on a pedestal reminiscent of black earth.

Huma Bhabha

Waddah, 2023

Iron

Overall: 33 7/8 x 18 x 18 inches (86.1 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm)
Artwork: 1 7/8 x 3 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches (4.8 x 9.5 x 32.4 cm)
Pedestal: 32 x 18 x 18 inches (81.3 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm)

Cast in iron—the artist’s first foray into the medium—the work’s materiality echoes that found in the new larger-scale iron works on view in Chelsea. As with many of her recent sculptures, Bhabha considers the plinth to be an intrinsic part of the work, lending the overall arrangement the feeling of a mortal relic or an artifact from another world.

Huma Bhabha

My Ancestor, 2023

Cork, wood, acrylic, chalk, oil, and MDF

Overall: 55 3/8 x 22 x 22 inches (140.7 x 55.9 x 55.9 cm)
Artwork: 26 1/8 x 17 x 8 3/8 inches (66.4 x 43.2 x 21.3 cm)
Pedestal: 29 1/4 x 22 x 22 inches (74.3 x 55.9 x 55.9 cm)

The other sculpture on view, My Ancestor, comprises a pair of amputated legs that have been sculpted out of porous cork and inscribed with lines of white chalk to resemble stump feet or cloven hooves. Hovering between states of ruin and repair, these sculptures appear either as bearers of the collective casualties forced on nature, or as signs of fresh life emerging from the earth.

Huma Bhabha, My Ancestor, 2023 (detail)

Huma Bhabha, My Ancestor, 2023 (detail)

“Travelling through histories, dream worlds and allusions, the realization dawns that the creature as a collection applies not only to Huma’s sculptures. Every human being is an assemblage of experiences and stories. Delving deep for narratives concealed behind the painted faces becomes an investigation into what makes us human.”

—Vincent Honoré, late director of exhibitions, MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

Installation view, Huma Bhabha, David Zwirner, New York, 2024

On View in Chelsea

Huma Bhabha: Welcome...to the one who came

Inquire About Works by Huma Bhabha

An installation view of the exhibition, Huma Bhabha, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2024.

An installation view of the exhibition, Huma Bhabha, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2024.

An installation view of the exhibition, Huma Bhabha, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2024.

An installation view of the exhibition, Huma Bhabha, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2024.

An installation view of the exhibition, Huma Bhabha, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2024.

An installation view of the exhibition, Huma Bhabha, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2024.

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

32 1/2 x 22 1/4 inches (82.5 x 56.5 cm)
Framed: 34 x 25 3/4 inches (86.4 x 65.4 cm)

Huma Bhabha

Waddah, 2023

Iron

Overall: 33 7/8 x 18 x 18 inches (86.1 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm)
Artwork: 1 7/8 x 3 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches (4.8 x 9.5 x 32.4 cm)
Pedestal: 32 x 18 x 18 inches (81.3 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm)

Huma Bhabha

My Ancestor, 2023

Cork, wood, acrylic, chalk, oil, and MDF

Overall: 55 3/8 x 22 x 22 inches (140.7 x 55.9 x 55.9 cm)
Artwork: 26 1/8 x 17 x 8 3/8 inches (66.4 x 43.2 x 21.3 cm)
Pedestal: 29 1/4 x 22 x 22 inches (74.3 x 55.9 x 55.9 cm)

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, oil stick, pastel, and collage on black and white photograph

80 x 50 inches (203.2 x 127 cm)
Framed: 85 5/8 x 55 5/8 inches (217.5 x 141.3 cm)

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2022

Ink, acrylic, gouache, pastel, and collage on chromogenic print

79 x 50 inches (200.7 x 127 cm)
Framed: 84 3/4 x 55 1/2 inches (215.3 x 141 cm)

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

53 x 51 7/8 inches (134.6 x 131.8 cm)
Framed: 58 1/2 x 57 1/8 inches (148.6 x 145.1 cm)

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

51 3/4 x 51 3/4 inches (131.4 x 131.4 cm)
Framed: 57 x 57 1/4 inches (144.8 x 145.4 cm)

Huma Bhabha

Untitled, 2023

Ink, acrylic, pastel, and collage on paper

51 7/8 x 51 7/8 inches (131.8 x 131.8 cm)
Framed: 57 x 57 inches (144.8 x 144.8 cm)

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