Rashid Rana
Widely considered to be the leading Pakistani artist of his generation, Rashid Rana first came to prominence in South Asia alongside artists such as Subodh Gupta, before gaining wider, international exposure after the millennium. In his photography, sculpture and digital printmaking, Rana transposes imagery from one time and place to another, through manipulation, repetition and rearrangement. His early photomontages – originally made by painstakingly reconfiguring tiny squares of imagery into micro-mosaics by hand, latterly by using computer software – superimposed hardcore pornography on to the silhouette of the burqa (Veil, 2004) and turned hundreds of graphic slaughterhouse snapshots into facsimiles of Persian rugs (Red Carpet, 2007). Rana’s telescoping of politics, civilizations and time also appears in three-dimensions, in works from the series Desperately Seeking Paradise (2007-2011), which splice Lahore’s humble streets and houses with the architectural promise of skyscrapers and the slick lines of Minimalism. The new wall-sized Crowds are similarly tumultuous composites formed of innumerable multitudes of human protest and unrest. Another continuing body of work, produced under the heading Language, crosses the cultural rubicon between historical and contemporary art, obliterating iconic works by Jacques Louis David and Gerhard Richter with data streams made up of horizontal strips of miniature interlocking bytes of visual information.
Rashid Rana was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1968 where he lives and works. He trained as a painter at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan and at the Massachusetts College of Fine Arts in Boston, USA. He is the founding faculty member and head of the Fine Art department at Beaconhouse National University in Lahore, Pakistan. Solo exhibitions include Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2017); the Pakistan pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2015); Lisson Gallery, Milan, Italy (2014); Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi, Pakistan (2013); New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK (2012); Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK (2011), Lisson Gallery, London, UK (2011) and Musée Guimet, Paris, France (2010). Participation in major group exhibitions includes Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany (2018); FOR-SITE Foundation, San Francisco, USA (2017); Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (2016); Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan (2016); Lisson Gallery, London, UK (2015); Kiev Biennial, Ukraine (2012); Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2010); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2010); Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2010) and The Asia Society, New York, USA (2009).
Rashid Rana
Recollection
2017
C-Print + Diasec
224 x 272 cm / 88 1/4 x 107 1/8 in
Rashid Rana
Asl-e-Shuhuud-o-shaahid-mashhhuud (The viewing, the viewer and the viewed in unison)
2015
Single channel projection
Installation view
Venice Biennale, 2015
Rashid Rana
I do not always feel immaterial
2015
Single channel projection
Installation view
Venice Biennale, 2015
Rashid Rana
My East is Your West
2015
Installation view
Venice Biennale, 2015
Rashid Rana
War Within II
2013
C print + DIASEC
240 x 600 cm / 94 1/2 x 236 in.
Rashid Rana
Notions of Narration II
2013
C print + DIASEC
228 x 323 cm / 90 x 127 in.
Rashid Rana
A Room for TATE Modern
2013-2014
Inkjet print on wallpaper, MDF, wood
750 x 920 x 520 cm / 295 x 363 x 205 in.
Rashid Rana
A Room for TATE Modern
2013-2014
Inkjet print on wallpaper, MDF, wood
750 x 920 x 520 cm / 295 x 363 x 205 in.
Rashid Rana
Anatomy Lessons III
2011-2012
Nine channel video on single video wall
274.5 cm x 365.8 cm / 108 x 144 in.
Installation view
Venice Biennale, 2015
Rashid Rana
Language Series 8
2011-12
C print + DIASEC
273.8 x 428 cm / 108 x 168 1/2 in.
Rashid Rana
Desperately Seeking Paradise II
2010-11
UV print on aluminium and stainless steel
386.4 x 386.4 x 332.1 cm / 152 x 152 x 131 in.
Rashid Rana
Desperately Seeking Paradise II
2010-11
UV print on aluminium and stainless steel
386.4 x 386.4 x 332.1 cm / 152 x 152 x 131 in.
Rashid Rana
Desperately Seeking Paradise II
2010-11
UV print on aluminium and stainless steel
386.4 x 386.4 x 332.1 cm / 152 x 152 x 131 in.
Rashid Rana
A Courier Package
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
48 x 48 x 48 cm / 19 x 19 x 19 in.
Rashid Rana
Books-2
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
62 x 62 x 62 cm / 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 in.
Rashid Rana
Books-2
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
62 x 62 x 62 cm / 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 in.
Rashid Rana
A Plinth from a gallery in Lahore
2010-11
UV inkjet print on aluminium
36 x 36 x 100 cm / 14 x 14 x 39 in.
Rashid Rana
Newspapers
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
38 x 31.5 x 15 cm each / 15 x 12 1/2 x 6 in.
Rashid Rana
Refrigerator
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
50 x 50 x 50 cm / 19 1/2 x 19 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.
Rashid Rana
Refrigerator
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
50 x 50 x 50 cm / 19 1/2 x 19 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.
Rashid Rana
Untitled (HOC)
2010-11
UV print on aluminium and stainless steel
122 x 122 x 122 cm / 48 x 48 x 48 in.
Rashid Rana
The STEP
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
16 x 45.5 x 23 cm / 6 x 18 x 9 in.
Rashid Rana
The STEP
2010-11
UV print on aluminium
16 x 45.5 x 23 cm / 6 x 18 x 9 in.
Rashid Rana
Language Series 1
2010-11
LightJet print + DIASEC
360 x 270 cm / 142 x 106 in.
Rashid Rana
Language Series 2
2010-11
LightJet print + DIASEC
335.28 x 270.32 cm / 132 x 106 1/2 in.
Rashid Rana
Language Series 2
2010-11
LightJet print + DIASEC
335.28 x 270.32 cm / 132 x 106 1/2 in.
Rashid Rana
Dis-Location 1 (Safanwala Chowk)
2007
C print + DIASEC
241.3 x 317.5 cm / 95 x 125 in.
Rashid Rana
What Lies Between Flesh and Blood III
2009
C print + DIASEC
243.84 x 243.84 cm / 96 x 96 in.
