Le Banc
Marie Khouri, Canada/France
Description
Egyptian-born, Vancouver-based artist Marie Khouri celebrated her first public art installation with the debut of Le Banc, a white cast-cement bench measuring 11 feet long that was exhibited during the Vancouver Biennale’s 2009-2011 exhibition. Le Banc is defined by fluid curvatures, free-form arcs, and a circular seating space. In this sculpture Khouri has stripped away all that is extraneous, leaving the work’s essence to emphasize torsion and movement.
Khouri likes to shift from intricate, worked surfacing to very pure contemporary forms in her pursuit of danger and challenge, pushing the boundaries of herself and her medium. This, to her, is creativity.
With the installation of Le Banc in front of the Olympic Station of the Canada Line, Greater Vancouver’s rapid transit that opened in 2009, ahead of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, she has attracted significant media and museum attention and received commissions in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and France.
