This October, during the vibrant week of Frieze, Mother and Son artist duo Bushra Fakhoury and Mal Fostock will take over London’s Mall Galleries with a sweeping showcase of more than 100 works in their inaugural joint exhibition. In the West Gallery, Fostock’s solo debut, INCLUSION, introduces audiences to his distinctive voice across painting, print, and sculpture. Meanwhile, Fakhoury–renowned for her dynamic, figurative practice–will present TRANSMUTE in the North Galleries, unveiling a fresh body of work that includes recent collaborations with her son.
Fakhoury was selected twice by Westminster City Council to install monumental sculptures in Park Lane and Marble Arch.
This multi-generational exhibition is more than a family affair, it’s a rich dialogue between two artistic identities, exploring themes of heritage, transformation, and shared experience. Culturalee sat down with Fakhoury and Fostock ahead of their highly anticipated opening to talk about creative legacy, working together, and what it means to exhibit side by side for the first time.
This will be your first time exhibiting together. Why has it taken until now for a joint show to happen, and what made this the right moment?
BUSHRA FAKHOURY – Early in the 20th century, artists tended to help each other, such as Modigliani helping Soutine. They had their own shows, disregarding the Salon. As a fellow artist, I wanted to initiate this exhibition as Mal has always been a very private artist.
The upcoming exhibition at the Mall Galleries is a major one, featuring over 100 works between the two of you. What can visitors expect in terms of style, themes, and dialogue between your practices?
BUSHRA FAKHOURY: The works reflect society.
MAL FOSTOCK : When the opportunity of this exhibition presented itself, I was intrigued but soon followed the challenge of what to include and what to leave out. Finally, I realised that to represent my work most fully, and to portray myself most inclusively and authentically, I needed to display all the mediums that I work in. I was intrigued to see them side by side, and also alongside my mother’s works, in a way that hadn’t been explored before.
Inclusion to me also means the acceptance of all people, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion. After all, as an artist, I’m portraying human beings. This is a core principle that I express throughout my work and that is also central to Bushra’s work.
BUSHRA FAKHOURY: ‘Inclusion’ the bring together the various media and genres of the artworks. Transmute change in form, nature, and substance. I create my sculptures from my imagination using materials around me.
Who curated the exhibition, and how long has it been in the making? Was the process collaborative, or did you each maintain your own artistic voice within the show?
We curated Inclusion and Transmute together, and while also maintaining our own artistic voices.
While working on the collaborative works with Bushra, I was excited with the dialogue between us as she is always thinking out of the box.
All throughout my childhood, every time I walked into her studio, all the various sculptures and objects would play on my imagination. Later in life, I started to photograph these objects, some she had sculpted and others she had found and collected. I wanted to create a space through photography that would allow these objects to live another life. It was as if my and my mother’s deep psyches came together to speak with one voice.
We explored the shared language between us, which is rooted in imagination, bold expression and a desire to allow the creative process to unfold naturally.
Bushra, you’ve made history as the first British Lebanese female artist to be selected twice by Westminster City Council to install monumental sculptures in Park Lane and Marble Arch. What does that recognition mean to you personally and culturally?
I’m pleased that they chose them. When I work, the sculpture is not linked to any specific country, and has a worldwide message, concerning society and nature.
Bushra, your early years living among and teaching the Samburu people in Kenya’s forests are a unique chapter of your life. Has that experience influenced your visual language or artistic philosophy?
I taught in a Maralal school, and I also helped to open a school for the blind and the handicapped with the help of Terence Gavaghan, who used to be a district commissioner in Kenya. He introduced me to the right people.
As pure as it was, living with the beautiful Samburu people made me appreciate more the simplicity of life, the contact with nature and the love of animals. My work now reflects the influence from that period and has made me more aware of the importance of taking care of indigenous species that are being killed for pleasure of commercial gain, such as the elephant and Rhino.
Mal, your work draws inspiration from artists like Francesco Clemente and Eduardo Paolozzi. What is it about their practices that speaks to you, and how have those influences evolved in your own work?
I met Francesco Clemente in 1990 in London and then visited him at his studio that summer in New York. I showed Francesco my work–which he appreciated–and then saw him many times at his studio or at his home. I found Francesco Clemente to be deeply sensitive to his environment and the people around him and at the same time aware of his inner world. He is a prolific artist who engages in many different mediums which helped me to be freer to also move from one form of expression to the other.
I was influenced by Eduardo Paolozzi’s boldness. He appreciated and praised my work which boosted my confidence, especially as I held him in such high esteem. I was inspired by the huge diversity of his work. He was very charismatic and had a big heart that spilled over into all his work.
Mal, how does it feel to be exhibiting alongside your mother for the first time? Has the process revealed new things about each other’s work or strengthened your artistic connection?
I feel proud and honoured. It’s helped in revealing the connections that I’ve always taken for granted. It will be fascinating to see the exhibition to help me to reflect on these connections further.
Transmute by Bushra Fakhoury and INCLUSION by Mal Fostock are at Mall Galleries from 7th to 11th October, 2025. For more information visit:
https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/exhibitions-events/inclusion-mal-fostock
https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/exhibitions-events/transmute-bushra-fakhoury
