Artist Houda Bakkali is launching a new exhibit called ‘Monaco with Heart’, combining her signature mix of virtual and the physical to create a unique show of art.
Houda Bakkali’s artworks, boasting bursts of colour and inventiveness, are intended to make her audience give pause. Her latest show, an ode to one of her favourite places in the world and called ‘Monaco with Heart’, is no exception.
Already previewed at private events during the holiday season, the public will now have the chance to enjoy these new pieces both in person as well as virtually.
Bakkali, who calls this exhibition her “fetish work” has been hard at work putting the finishing touches on the show and is now ready to take it to a wider audience.
“I have been working on this for several months and I have finally been able to present it in the place where it was born and where it belongs,” she said. “This series reflects my passion and my connection with Monaco. Here I presented my first work in augmented reality in the first contemporary art salon after confinement in 2020. Some of my most representative works are inspired by Monaco. And here I have exhibited on many occasions at public and private events. Monaco has been part of my career, my inspiration and my personal life since I was a child, since some of my best friends and some of the best hosts of my work are here.”
HER CREATIVE PROCESS
‘Monaco with Heart’ was created as a trilogy that “pays tribute to colour, feminine beauty, the joyful spirit and the dolce vita that Monaco inspires”.
The optimism shines through, and was made using perky themes such as flowers, polka dots, and the Mediterranean Sea to convey a joyful spirit, in what the artist calls “a life designed to be lived with harmony but also with intensity, in the purest Monegasque style, with its sunny days and nights of good friends.”
DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
The artist has not limited herself in how art can be presented. She embraces innovative technologies, like the use of virtual spaces, whilst respecting traditional processes and techniques.
“Digital art is no longer a trend, it is a reality that is here to stay and that finds its place more and more every day,” says Bakkali. “Public and private institutions are committed to the combination of new technologies and art. The public can experience the potential of digital tools in immersive exhibitions and artists see how new possibilities open up to create and display our works.
“In 2024 I will have the opportunity and honour to develop several projects in this regard in Monaco and bring the public closer to these new technologies through the addictive power of art. Not only with my new series ‘Monaco with Heart’, also through other of my most recognised works.”
Her ambition for 2024 is to reach people far and wide, with the hope she can take this show on the road, with exhibitions in Asia, Latin America, the United States, the UAE and other parts of Europe.
Houda Bakkali also has an upcoming event this month at the Alliance Française for their 40th anniversary celebrations and other shows planned in Paris, Geneva and Italy.
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Main photo: Houda Bakkali inside her augmented reality artwork ‘The Party’; supplied.