KATHERINE BAKHOUM | THE MAN ON THE SMALL BOAT

Green Art Gallery, Dubai

Katherine Bakhoum (b. 1949, Egypt) spent her childhood in Egypt and later lived in France. She studied in Paris at l’Atelier Met de Penninghen, a private school of design, d'art graphic art and interior design, under the auspices of l’Ecole Estienne, the Graduate School of the Arts and Printing Industry.

Bakhoum draws on Orientalism and the mystic associated with the perceived exoticism of the East. There is a certain nostalgia to her work. Her subject matter, either landscapes or figurative, seem to draw on scenes and figures from past, forgotten times – of histories and memories she hopes to patch back together. In this vein, they come collaged and rendered in mixed media. Whether this is because Bakhoum felt this stylistic approach to be most apt in illustrating multifaceted, wistful recollections, remains open to interpretation – we do know she was generally experimental in her creative process. Bakhoum’s works vary in scale and she produced landscapes as well as figurative pieces, yet what ties them all together is their steady dreamy, ethereal quality.

For more than a decade, Bakhoum held annual exhibitions at the Safarkhan Gallery in Zamalek. She has also had annual solo exhibitions in Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris, since 1996; and in Galerie Safar Khan, Cairo since 1999. Her most recent solo exhibitions include, Le Carnaval at Safar Khan in Cairo (2018).