Manjari Sihare recommends Huma Bhabha’s Unnatural Histories, currently on at MoMA PS1

New York: If you are in New York or surrounding areas, please visit Huma Bhabha’s (Pakistani, b. 1962) first solo exhibition at MoMA PS1. Titled “Unnatural Histories“, the show comprises nearly 30 sculptures and more than a dozen photo-based drawings including some new works, never seen before. The exhibition is on view on the 2nd floor of MoMA PS1 until April 1, 2013.

Bhabha, a New York based artist of Pakistani origin, is best known is known for her engagement with the human figure and for her use of found materials, working primarily in sculpture. Having exhibited her work since the early ‘90’s she was recently included in the 2012 Paris Triennial at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, and in the 2010 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City. Bhabha was included in a group exhibition of sculpture at City Hall Park in New York City organized by the Public Art Fund as well as a group exhibition focusing on intercultural dialog at the Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam, both in 2010. She has also exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and The New Museum, both in New York City, and was included in the 2008 Gwanju Biennial, South Korea. Her current solo exhibition at MoMA PS1 includes a sculpture that was first shown at MoMA PS1 in Greater New York 2005.

MoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest organizations in the United States devoted to contemporary art. Established in 1976 by Alanna Heiss, MoMA PS1 originated from the Institute for Art and Urban Resources, a not-for-profit organization founded five years prior with the mission of turning abandoned, underutilized buildings in New York City into artist studios and exhibition spaces. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, as it was then known, became an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art in 2000.

To learn more about the show and Bhabha, please read Karen Rosenberg’s review in the New York Times.