Rashid Rana has emerged as a leading name among the young-generation artists working in South Asia today. Rashid Rana was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1968, where he lives and works. Rana received a BFA from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 1992 and an MFA at the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston in 1994. He is the head of fine art department and one of the founding faculty members of the School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD), Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. Rana is known for creating photo-mosaics composed of hundreds of unique images. The startling relationship between the whole picture and its fragments first brought Rana’s work to attention, and this formal device continues to define the work showcased in his recent show, which is on display at Chatterjee & Lal (Mumbai) as well as Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai) until May 26, 2012.
In a recent Time Out interview, Rana said about his work: “I believe that we live in a world that is divided between many halves. The division between the developed world and developing nations, the political centre and its periphery, reality and its representation through media are indispensible truths, which one must recognise and relate to. My work is an attempt to re-construct that aspect of duality, with an aesthetic that recalls the bifurcations of our contemporary world.”
Upcoming shows include a survey show in Karachi at Mohatta Palace Museum in September 2012.
