Huma Bhabha @ David Roberts Art Foundation

Study #16 looks in depth at the sculpture What is Love, 2013, by New York-based Pakistani artist Huma Bhabha from the David Roberts Collection. The work comprises a white polystyrene bust painted with acrylic paint, oil stick and lipstick, atop a tall square cork column. The column’s four faces are carved in shallow relief; front, side and rear views of a grotesque figure with elongated breasts, torso, arms, fingers and legs. Drawing from diverse ancient and contemporary sources – from science-fiction to Picasso to African tribal sculpture – Bhabha’s totemic figure is universal rather than illustrative.