Rashid Rana

Rashid Rana (Urdu: راشد رانا) (born 1968) is an Pakistani visual artist .

Biography

Rashid Ran was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan in 1992, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 1994. He studied fashion design in Paris. The artist divides his time between Lahore and Toronto. He is the Faculty (associate professor) and the one of the Pioneers who started the School of Visual Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore.

Art career

Rashid Rana has emerged as a leading name among the young-generation artists on the contemporary art scene. He is known to develop a conceptually driven, well-informed art practice, which maintains a pixelated attention to formal concerns. Fully taken from American art. His works revolve around a subtle simultaneous exploration of media and identity – both bound by a sharp political edge as he satirizes pop culture and looks to reinterpret varied elements of art and cultural history. His new media projects are a visual commentary and parody of socio-political scenarios. The concepts have been given to him by the gallerists and buyers.

Deftly traversing between the diverse mediums like painting, video, installation and photography, Rashid Rana has emerged as one of the leading artistic personalities of his generation, making his presence felt globally. His work deals with everyday issues encompassing a wide range of themes from urbanization and popular culture to faith and tradition. He often employs video installations and still photography. A case in point is his series of composite photomontages in which each main image is constructed out of countless smaller photos of diametrically opposite subjects. The viewer confronts a moment of sudden withdrawal after moving closer to the picture when one becomes aware of the many miniature images that constitute the larger one. This photography is done by students.

It is the aesthetic concept of the grid deftly exploring the language of minimalism and geometric abstraction that serves as the precious connecting his monumental work to his mentor Zahoor ul Akhlaq. However Rana refuses to die poor like his mentor.

A foray into video art has resulted in seminal installations such as ‘Meeting Point’ (2006) in which the artist recalls anticipation from terrorism by projecting two airplanes facing and seeming to collide into each eh other, with the loud airspace audio.

Among his major solos are ‘The Politics of Fear’, Albion, London (2007); Inaugural Show (of the new venue), National Art Gallery, Islamabad, Pakistan (2007); ‘Reflected Looking’, Nature Morte, New Delhi (2006); ‘Identical Views’, Nature Morte, New Delhi and V.M. Gallery, Karachi (2004); ‘Non-Sense’, Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad (2000), and Zahoor ul Akhlaq Gallery, NCA, Lahore.

His work has been featured at the various prestigious shows and events like ShContemporary, Shanghai (2007); Thomas Erben Gallery, New York (2007); Albion, London (2007); 5th Asia Pacific Triennale, Queensland Gallery of Art, Australia (2006); Artissima Art Fair, Turin, Italy (2006); Singapore Biennale (2006); and Art Basel (2006).

Dis-Location (2007), a major solo in a range of media show of his selected works spread across two galleries including Gallery Chemould Prescott marked his return to Mumbai after a gap of three years. Underlining the artist’s importance on global art stage, an accompanying note mentioned: “He has come to represent an entire generation of Pakistani Contemporary Artists. Moreover in terms of the Indian art scene, he is the first artist from across the border to have been so thoroughly embraced since partition era artists such as Abdul Rehman Chughtai and Allah Bux. Working both on major public installations as well as gallery based works, his art is now some of the most recognisable among artists from South Asia.”

His importance in the context of Indian art scene is much beyond a simplistic cultural exchange. On the international art scene, he represents the region as a whole, and he shares a deep connection with the country. The artist had his very first international solo in New Delhi with Nature Morte in 2004. Looking back at those times, he had once stated: “India was my launch pad. I didn’t consider myself a professional artist till that show in 2004. It changed my approach.” He hasn’t looked back since then, and has now become a poster boy for the Indian art gallery circuit. At Christie’s South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art auction in September 2007, his ‘A Day in the Life of Landscape’, a digital print, was sold for $133,000, becoming the most expensive piece of art from Pakistan.

The artist does not prefer to be tagged as a photographer, sculptor or video-artist. He explains: “I trained as a traditional painter, but I like the freedom to use any kind of medium. I don’t like hard divides.” Naturally.

In his work, Rana cleverly relates back to the history of art in Pakistan, his native country. A graduate of the National College of Arts, Lahore (with the most respected department for traditional miniature painting in the world), Rana deviated from his peers by moving into digital media and photography and away from the traditional painting techniques taught at the school. Yet, in spite of his embrace of new media, Rana manages to wryly preserve the idea of the miniature in his work through his mosaic-like use of minute photographs in constructing his mural-size images.

“In this age of uncertainty we have lost the privilege of having one world view. Now every image, idea and truth (may it be ancient or modern) encompasses its opposite within itself. Thus we live in a state of duality. This internal conflict translates into my work, on a formal level, as well as having geographical, historical and political connotations.” (Rashid Rana, Artist Statement, The 2006 Sovereign Asian Art Prize, not paginated)

Rana’s ability to identify and exploit these tensions between the whole and its parts in his pointillist photographs has become his hallmark. The artist is adept at pulling apart the world’s facades, forcing his viewers to look beyond the larger image and to the sum of its parts. In so doing, Rana reveals a litany of cultural, political and economic ills lying just beneath the surface of the carefully constructed representations we have come to accept as “reality.”

Although trained as a painter, Rana has recently turned his attention to various genres of new media art, including digital photography, installation, and video. Nevertheless, the artist dislikes being defined only as a painter or photographer. Not fond of hard boundaries, he prefers the liberty to choose for himself.

Rana’s work deals with everyday issues ranging from faith and tradition to urbanization and popular culture. He uses photography and video installations to depict his commentary and parody of both social and political scenarios. In his composite photomontages, for instance, each main image is made up of several thousand smaller photographs of diametrically opposite subjects. There is a moment of sudden withdrawal when the viewer moves closer to the picture and becomes aware of the miniature images that compose the larger one.

However, Rana's formal and conceptual departure from this traditional style and medium is distinctly his own. The stark contrast of the Muslim women in their traditional dress with the exposed nudity of the Western porn stars forces a powerful shift in focus between the poles of these two stereotypes and alludes to the great cultural divide between East and West. Fascinated by how meaning is often misunderstood in our media-oriented society, Rana's photographic practice cleverly creates images that offer an alternative view of how popular ideas and prejudices are created.

Artist, curator and best friend Quddus Mirza considers Rana one of the most important figures amongst the new generation of Pakistani artists. His work has been exhibited in Pakistan and abroad. In 2007 Rana exhibited in solo shows at Nature Morte, New Delhi and Shanghai; Chemould Prescott Road and Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai; and Art + Public, Geneva. His other solo shows include those held at V.M. Gallery, Karachi, 2004; Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad, 2000; and Zahoor ul Akhlaq Gallery, Lahore, 2000.

Exhibitions

Public exhibitions

• Passage to India - Initial Access Frank Cohen Collection, Wolverhampton (England)
• Die Macht des Ornaments - Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna
• Re-Imagining Asia - The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, West Midlands (England) Exhibitions
• Australia
  • Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, QLD
• United Kingdom
  • recommended institution The Saatchi Gallery, London (England)
  • initial Access Frank Cohen Collection, Wolverhampton (England)

Selected solo exhibitions

• 2007 ‘Dis-Location’, Chatterjee & Lal in collaboration with Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
• 2007 ‘The Politics of Fear’, Albion, London, UK
• 2007 Inaugural Show, National Art Gallery, Islamabad
• 2006 ‘Reflected Looking’, Nature Morte, New Delhi
• 2005 ‘Identical Views’, Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai in collaboration with Nature Morte, New Delhi
• 2004 ‘Identical Views’, V.M. Gallery, Karachi
• 2004 ‘Identical Views’, Nature Morte, New Delhi
• 2000 ‘Non-Sense’, Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad
• 2000 ‘Non-Sense’, Zahoor ul Akhlaq Gallery, NCA, Lahore

Selected group exhibitions

• 2008 'Everywhere Is War (And Rumors of War)', Bodhi Art, Mumbai
• 2008 'Modern and Contemporary Indian Art', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
• 2008 'Crossroads', Elementa Art Gallery, Dubai
• 2007 ‘Shanghai Contemporary’, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai
• 2007 ‘Inaugural Show’, National Art Gallery, Islamabad
• 2007 ‘Group Show: Contemporary Art from Pakistan’, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York
• 2007 ‘The Politics of Fear’, Albion, London
• 2007 ‘Mirror Worlds’, Two Rooms, Auckland, New Zealand
• 2006 ‘EX-OTICA’, Gallery Vitamin, Turin, Italy
• 2006 ‘Grid <> Matrix’, Kemper Art Museum, St Louis, USA
• 2006 ‘Lille 3000: Desi Pop’, Lille, France
• 2006 ‘Beyond the Page: Contemporary Art from Pakistan’, Asia House, London
• 2006 ‘Beyond the Page: Contemporary Art from Pakistan’, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
• 2006 ‘Flights of Fancy’, Royaat Gallery, Lahore
• 2006 ‘Mirror Worlds’: (traveling exhibition), Institute of the Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
• 2005 ‘Bitmap: International Digital Photo Project’, Loop, Korea
• 2005 ‘New Media Art from Pakistan’, Artist Village, Kowloon, Hong Kong
• 2005 ‘Three Person Show’, Bose Pacia, New York
• 2005 ‘Mirror Worlds: Contemporary Video from Asia’, Australian Center for Photography, Sydney
• 2005 ‘Beyond Borders: Art from Pakistan’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
• 2004 ‘South Asian Master: Old Masters and Young Voices’, Alahamra Art Gallery, Lahore
• 2004 ‘Playing with a Loaded Gun’, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
• 2004 ‘Along the X Axis: Video Art from India and Pakistan’, Apeejay Gallery, New Delhi
• 2002-04 Global Priority, traveling exhibition, 2004- San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco
• 2003 Pier II Gallery in Taiwan 2002, Jamaica Center for the Arts, NY
• 2003 ‘Playing with a Loaded Gun’, Apexart, New York
• 2003 ‘Miniatures Pakistani’s’, Maison d’Art Contemporarian Chaillioux, Paris
• 2002 ‘Around Miniature’, Royaat, Lahore
• 2002 ‘Around Miniature’, Canvas Gallery, Karachi
• 2002 ‘Painting Over the Lines: Five Contemporary Artists from Pakistan’, York
• 2002 Quay Gallery, Toronto, Canada
• 2002 ‘Painting Over the Lines: Five Contemporary Artists from Pakistan’, Indo Center for Art and Culture, New York
• 2001 ‘Crossing the Line’, (Site Specific project at Jackson heights NY), A Project of Queens Museum of Art, New York
• 2000 ‘Context’, Bare-Foot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
• 2000 ‘Another Vision: 50 years of Pakistani Art ‘, (Traveling Exhibition), Brunei Gallery, SOAS London, Oldham Art Gallery, Haddonfield Art Gallery, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK

Joint exhibitions

• 2005-07 ‘Rusholm Project’, with Subodh Gupta, organized by SHISHA, Manchester, UK

Participations

• 2009 'Lines of Control', A Green Cardamom Project at The Third Line, Dubai; VM Gallery, Karchi; Green Cardamom, London
• 2008-09 'The Audience and the Eavesdropper: New Art from India and Pakistan', Phillips de Pury & Company, London and New York
• 2008 'Art Basel', represented by Bose Pacia, New York and Nature Morte, New Delhi
• 2008 ‘Desperately Seeking Paradise', The Pakistan Pavilion at the Dubai Art Fair
• 2008 Art Dubai 2008
• 2008 ‘Re-Imagining Asia’, 16 Asian Countries: Cultural Exchange with 27 European Countries, Members of Asia Europe Foundation (ASEM) at House of World Cultures, Berlin
• 2006 ‘5th Asia Pacific Triennale’, Queensland Gallery of Art, Australia
• 2006 ‘Artissima Art Fair’, Turin, Italy
• 2006 ‘1st Singapore Biennale, Singapore
• 2006 ‘Art Basel’, represented by Nature Morte, Basel, Switzerland
• 2006 ‘Art Taipei’, represented by Nature Morte, Taiwan
• 2006 ‘Asian Contemporary Art Week’, organized by ASIA Society, Gallery Korea NY, USA
• 2006 ‘Parallel Realities: 3rd Fukuoka Triennale ‘,(traveling to) Blackburn Museum of Art, Blackburn, UK
• 2005 ‘Parallel Realities: 3rd Fukuoka Triennale’, Fukuoka Museum of Art, Fukuoka, Japan
• 2005 ‘KOVIDEO’: 1st Durban Video Festival, Kazna Gallery, South Africa
• 2004 ‘Art Summit IV Exhibition’, National Gallery of Art, Jakarta, Indonesia
• 2004 ‘10th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh’, Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh
• 2003-04 ‘9th Cairo International Biennale’, Cairo, Egypt

Honours and awards

• 2006 HAT Exchange Program Residency, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
• 2002-03 International Artist of the Year Award 2002-2003, South Asian Visual Arts Collective (SAVAC),Toronto, Canada
• 2003 Hathor Prize, 9th Cairo International Biennale, Cairo, Egypt
• 2003 Darmiyaan Workshop, Neher Ghar Gallery, Lahore
• 2003 Artist in Residence, Gasworks, London
• 2001 Creation and Production Grant, Ontario Council of the Arts, Canada
• 2000 Creation and Production Grant, Ontario Council of the Arts, Toronto
• 2000 Creation and Production Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, Canada
• 2000 Art-Link International Artist’s Workshop, Sri Lanka
• 1992 Distinction Award; Degree Show, National College of Art, Lahore

External links

• Review of Rashid Rana's work on The Arts Trust Online Magazine
• Information from Asia Pacific Triennial
• Rashid Rana on ArtNet.com
• I am a perfectionist: Rashid Rana on The Express Tribune