Keen observation and eagerness for experimentation took Rashid Rana to a world of exploration of forms and images. The multiple medium visual arts consists various new mediums - digital photography and videos other than painting and installations. In an urge to create something innovative Rashid Rana finds a unique style of his own by producing large-scale photographic prints, sculptures and multi-media installations.
He invents an entirely different technique to create innovative images by using micro prints of photographs to create a macro print. And by applying same technique he shot videos and then cut the video into small mini videos to create a photo-mosaic video.
The idea of making large size prints and installation with the help of micro-prints and mini videos gives a message to the viewer that little things make a big difference. Rashid Rana's inventive style brings acclaim and is thus consider one of the most celebrated contemporary artists of Pakistan. His various inventive ideas and innovative impressions titled "Labyrinth of reflections: The art of Rashid Rana 1992-2012" are exhibited at Mohatta Palace Museum in Karachi.
The show is a retrospective of Rashid Rana's two decade career. Rashid Rana graduated from National College of Arts (NCA) in 1992 and a master's degree in Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Arts in Boston followed it. He is a founding faculty member of the Beacon House National University (BNU) in Lahore and is currently head of the Department of Fine Arts at BNU.
He started his artistic career as a painter but after a decade he starts to experiment with multimedia and during a decade he brought prominent changes in techniques and creates digital photo mosaic and detailed layered works in micro and macro prints. The artworks present in eleven sections of Mohatta Palace, first and ground floor. Each section displays works on a different theme including: 'An idea of Abstract I' 'Self in the Other I, 'Self in the Other II' 'Fiction Friction' 'Between Flesh and Blood' 'Transliterations' 'Real Time and Moving Spaces' 'An Idea of Abstract II 'Mirror Mirror' 'Language' and 'Anatomy Lessons'.
There are also video presentations at the exhibition 'Ten Differences,' 'Meeting Point' and 'Anatomy Lessons', which is a video on 12 monitors display. While going through the exhibition I feel exploration of various human experiences in Rashid Rana's contemporary artworks. Rashid Rana juxtaposes symbols of elegance and beauty to mirror themes like violence, death, brutality, bloodshed and trans-cultural influences.
In 'Heaven and Earth' he shows images of a terrorist attack. The images of glass, blood and burnt bodies first fragmented and then reassembled to reproduce an image which is completely different from the real images. 'Desperately seeking paradise' is a mirrored stainless steel photo based installation which reflects thousands of small homes and buildings which combine together to form a large image of skyscrapers. Another striking work titled 'Red Carpet' , it is a collage made up of thousands of small photographs of slaughtering animals at a slaughter house reflecting brutality, violence and death.
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