Bashir Baraki

Bashir Baraki, Catalogue No.34, Untitled 1/3, 1986, black and white photograph, 27.7 x 34.3cm,
Image courtesy of the estate of the artist.

Bio

Bashir Baraki (b.1943–1998) was an artist known for photographic works that combined themes of gay male sexuality, his Lebanese heritage, and catholicism. Like many of his contemporaries, Baraki produced sexually explicit work during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, but since his passing from cancer in 1998 has often been forgotten by much of art history. Baraki's images frequently appropriate iconographic religious imagery, read through and altered by his contemporary political position. Baraki's photographs often evoke a sense of carnality and eroticism formally putting his work in contrast to many of his Australian contemporaries. Baraki juxtaposes human and historical experiences, which are brought together with a particular sense of unease, recalling painterly influences such as Francis Bacon and Francisco Goya.

Baraki was of Lebanese descent and was born to first-generation immigrants in Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America. Between 1948–52 Baraki and his family returned to Lebanon where he was educated. Between 1960–62 Baraki studied at the Petersburg School of Fine Art in Petersburg, Virginia before transferring to The Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia where he studied Fine Art (painting) from 1962–63. In 1966 Baraki settled in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he lived and practiced for the next decade. In 1977 Baraki moved to Melbourne, Victoria where he would remain until his death.

Throughout his career, Baraki was included in numerous group and solo exhibitions. He exhibited work at the Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; amongst many others. Baraki's work is included in various public and private collections in Australia and New Zealand.