In this talk, artist Huma Bhabha will discuss her Public Art Fund exhibition, Before The End, which is on view at Brooklyn Bridge Park until Spring 2025. Bhabha, renowned for her ability to reinvent the figure and explore its expressive potential, creates eccentric characters that captivate through their contradictions. Her innovative practice spans sculpture, drawings, and photography. In conversation with Nicholas Baume, Artistic & Executive Director at Public Art Fund, Bhabha will provide insights into her work and discuss her influences and process in creating the enigmatic sculptures for Before The End, which blend elements of science fiction, horror, and mythology. 

Attend in person at The Cooper Union’s Great Hall. Registration is required, and capacity is limited. Seating is first come, first served, so please arrive early. Your registration does not guarantee a seat. Doors will close at 6:45pm. Register here.

Accessibility: Email Gabriela López Dena, Associate Curator of Public Practice, at glopez@publicartfund.org with questions and requests for accessibility. Please send any needs for services or accommodations to support your participation in this program, including ASL interpretations, hearing aids, and simultaneous translation, by September 20, 2024.

Huma Bhabha (b. In 1962, Karachi, Pakistan) moved to the United States in 1981 to attend Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, where she received her BFA in 1985. She later studied at the School of the Arts at Columbia University, New York, from which she received her MFA in 1989. The artist presently lives and works in Poughkeepsie, New York. Bhabha has been the recipient of notable awards, such as The American Academy in Berlin’s Berlin Prize, the Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship (2013), and the Emerging Artist Award from The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut (2008). In 2022, Bhabha was elected as a National Academician by the The National Academy of Design, New York. In 2023, the artist was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York. Her previous solo exhibitions have taken place at prominent institutions such as The Contemporary Austin, Texas (2018); MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York (2012); Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy (2012); Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2011); and The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut (2008), among others. Bhabha’s work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions internationally, including the 2019 Yorkshire Sculpture International, Wakefield, United Kingdom; the 56th Venice Biennale, All the World’s Futures (2015); and the 2010 Whitney Biennial. 

Public Art Fund Talks, organized in collaboration with The Cooper Union, connect compelling contemporary artists to a broad public by establishing a dialogue about artistic practices and public art. The Talks series features internationally renowned artists who offer insights into artmaking and its personal, social, and cultural contexts. The core values of creative expression and democratic access to culture and learning shared by both Public Art Fund and The Cooper Union are embodied in this ongoing collaboration. In the spirit of accessibility to the broadest and most diverse public, the Talks are offered free of charge.