Bashir Makhoul: restoring hope?

Associated media

Bashir Makhoul

Edited by August Jordan Davis and Jonathan Harris

This monograph presents the work of on British-based Palestinianartist Bashir Makhoul in relation to the history between Palestinians and the state of Israel.  Makhoul, in addition to being an artist, is a professor with a PhD from Manchester Metropolitan University. The chapters explore his works in detail, the contexts in which they were made and their relationship to their audiences. It dissects his political allegories and their messages and discusses  the relationship between form and content. Cubitt feels that Makhoul’s work relates a ‘profound understanding of the ways in which secularisation of the Western Tradition has been purchased at the price of the abandonment of hope’.

 Since 1996 Makhoul has expanded from painting to other media within the aesthetics of modernism and post-modernism.

His works echoing Islamic designs, the installations She Was (1998), Round the Garden (1988), and Change (1993), Photographs from the Points of View Series (1997),  In the Wake Of   (1998), Installations and video projections includeHold (1999), Thirst (1999),  Going home (2005), Who the Fuck Are You? ( 1999) and the lenticular photographs, Return in Conflict Series (2007) andEnter Ghost (2012)are all discussed and illustrated in this volume.

Most intriguing are the photographic series consisting of eight images depicting sand, water, blood, flesh, and soil, and the lenticular photographs of Palestine/Israel where he has visually interwoven photographs, creating kaleidoscopic patterns.

The book is beautifully produced and the photographs of Makhoul’s works are captivating. This is the third volume in Al Hoash’s series of publications on Palestinian art.  This monograph is a scholarly and academic discussion, exploring the themes and messages behind Makhoul’s work and is not an easy introduction for an uninformed reader.

The contributors with the exception of Gordon Hon, who is an artist and writer based in London are all professors. Contributors Sean Cubitt,  Jonathan Harris  and Ryan Bishop are all connected to the Winchester School of Art. Lewis Biggs OBE, is a visiting professor in contemporary art at Liverpool John Moores and Shanghai universities, David Owen is professor of social and political philosophy in the Politics and International Relations department  and the deputy director of the Centre for Philosophy and Value at the University of Southampton.  The introduction is provided by August Jordan Davis and Jonathan Harris.  

Bashir Makhoul  edited by August Jordan Davis and Jonathan Harris with an interview by Gordon Hon is published by Palestinian Art Court – al Hoash, 2012; Number 3 in the Palestinian Art series. ISBN: 978 995 0352 025