The work of London-based artist Rana Begum distils spatial and visual experience into ordered form. Through her refined language of Minimalist abstraction, Begum blurs the boundaries between sculpture, painting and architecture. Her visual language draws from the urban landscape as well as geometric patterns from traditional Islamic art and architecture. Light is fundamental to her process. Begum’s works absorb and reflect varied densities of light to produce an experience for the viewer that is both temporal and sensorial.
Born in Bangladesh in 1977, Rana Begum lives and works in London. In 1999, Begum graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design and, in 2002, gained an MFA in Painting from Slade School of Fine Art.
EDUCATION
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2002 Slade School of Fine Art, London.
MFA in Painting
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1999 Chelsea College of Art and Design, London.
BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree (Painting)
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1996 University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
BTEC Diploma in Foundation Studies in Art and Design.
UPCOMING SHOWS
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2023 Solo Show St Alban’s Museum. Curated by Inna Allen
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
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2023 Dappled Light, The Box, Plymouth. Curated by Sarah Shalgosky
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2022 Solo Show, Reflection on Colour and Form, Cristea Roberts Gallery, London
Dappled Light, curated by Cliff Lawson, Pitzhanger Gallery and Manor
Dappled Light, curated by Cliff Lawson, Mead Gallery, Warwick
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2021 Infinite Geometry, Wanas Konst, Sweden
Solo show, Kate MacGarry, London
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2019 Solo show, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai
Perception and Reflection, Third Line Gallery, Dubai
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2018 Solo show, Christian Lethert, Cologne
Space Light Color, Djanogly Art Gallery, University of Nottingham
Conversation with Light and Colour, Gallery 10, TATE St Ives
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2017 Space, Light, Colour Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
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2016 The Space Between, Parasol Unit, London
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2015 Towards an Infinite Geometry, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai
Gallery Three Touchstone, Rochdale
Future Light, Vienna Biennale 2015: Ideas for Change, MAK - Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
Linear Abstraction, Gutstein Gallery, SCAD, Savannah, USA
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2014 Solo Show Galeri Mana, Istanbul
Dhaka Art Summit, Jhaveri Contemporary, Bangladesh
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2013 No.10, The Third Line, Dubai
Manifold, Galerie Christian Lethert, Cologne
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2012 Solo show, Bischoff/Weiss, London
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2011 The Folded Page, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai
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2010 Fractured Symmetry, Bischoff/Weiss, London
Solo show, Delfina Foundation, London
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2009 The Moment of Alignment, The Third Line, Dubai
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2008 Transient Symmetry, VineSpace, London
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2007 Colour Codes, The Third Line, Dubai
AWARDS/ COMMISSION/ RESIDENCIES
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2023 No.1138 Net, New York University
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2022 No.1104 Catching Colour, The Line, London
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2021 No.1088 Cleveland Clinic, London
No.1066 Brick, Wanas Konst, Sweden
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2020 No.1054 Arpeggio, Folkstone Triennial, Folkstone
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2019 Guests: Artists and Craftspeople, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
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2018 Bella Artes Project, Manila, Philippines
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2017 No.724 Reflectors, Westgate, Oxford
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2016 No.688, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio
No.700 Refelctors, Kings Cross
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2015 No.510, HLC, Kiran Nadar, Delhi
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2014 LSM, Washington DC
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2013 Surbiton Health Centre Public Art Commission, London
Hualien Cinema, public art commission, Taiwan
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2012 Jack Goldhill Award for Sculpture, Royal Academy of Arts, London
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2011 Marcol House public art commission, London
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2009 Two months residency in Beirut through Delfina Foundation
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2006 British Council Residency in Bangkok
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2007 Nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award
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2005 Lewisham Hospital Commission
Coventry Hospital Commission in collaboration with Tess Jaray
Artist in Residence at West Dean College, West Sussex
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2000 Arts and Humanities Research Board award for postgraduate study
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
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2023 Life is More Important Than Art, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Desert X 2023, Desert X Bienniel, Coachella Valley, USA
Dhaka Art Summit 2023, DAS, Bangladesh
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2022 Urban Impressions, Moody Centre for the Arts, Houston
Zim-Zum: The Folding World, Patrick Heide Contemporary Arts, London
Uncombed, Unforeseen, Unconstrained, Parasol Unit, Venice
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2021 Rhythm & Geometry, SVAC, Norwich
Breaking the Mould, Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Shapes, Alexander Berggruen, NY
Folkstone Triennial, Folkstone Trennial, Folkstone
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2020 Hard Painting x2, Phoenix Art Space, Brighton
Guests: Artists and Craftspeople, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
Seismic Moverments, Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh
Eccentric Objects, CFhill Gallery, Stockholm
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2019 Guests: Artists and Craftspeople, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
Is This Tomorrow? Whitechapel Gallery + Alserkal Arts Foundation, Dubai
The Interaction of Colour Cristea Roberts Gallery, London
Is This Tomorrow? Whitechapel Gallery, London
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2018 Frieze Sculpture Park, London
Heavy Metal: Women to Watch, NMWA, Washington
RA Summer Show, London
Actions, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge
Fold, Marta Herford, Germany
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2017 Metal: Women to Watch, curated Caroline Douglas, Philips, London
Occasional Geometries, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Things that Soak You, Kate MacGarry, London
31 Women, Bresslittle, London
The Order of Things, The Wilson, Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, Cheltenham
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2016 Tribute to Sol LeWitt, Gemeente Museum, Den Haag
11th Gwangju Biennale, Curated by Maria Lind, Korea
Cause the Grass Don’t Grow and the Sky Ain’t Blue, Praz Delavallade
Flatland/Narrative Abstractions, MRAC, Serignan
New Visions, Curated by Maria Lind, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm
Into Boundless Space I Leap, Kettle's Yard / Maxwell Centre, Cambridge
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2015 The Shapes We’re In, London
Triplicity, Athr, Jeddah
Future Light, Museum Angewandte Kunst, Vienna
Geometries of Difference, Dorsky Museum, New York
Linear Abstraction, Gutstein Gallery, SCAD, Savanah
The Great Festival of Creativity, Long Museum, Shanghai
Working Space, KNMA, Delhi
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2014 Ethereal, curated by Amin Jaffer, Leila Heller Gallery, New York
The Language of Human Consciousness, Athr Gallery, Jeddah
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2013 The Edge of Painting, The Piper Gallery, London
Empty Line, curated by Nabila Mokrani, Galerie Bertrand Grimont, Paris
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2012 RA Summer show, London
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2011 The Art and Math of the Fold, Ft-Contemporary, Berlin
The New Middle East, Willem Baars, Amsterdam
Common Logic, IMT, London
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2010 Form & Phenomenon, Project88, Mumbai
Serendipity City, Future Everything, Manchester
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2009 How Nations are Made, Cartwright Hall and Manor House, Bradford
Pattern Recognition, The City Gallery, Leicester
Lines of Control, Green Cardamom, London. Catalogue
Identity, Aisho Miura Arts, Tokyo. Catalogue
Neither Here, Nor There, Various City Locations- Billboards
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2008 Contact, Bricklane, Work No. 951, London. Catalogue
Monologue/Dialogue Part II, Bischoff/Weiss, London
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2007 Repetition and Sequence, Jerwood Space, London. Catalogue
Sequence and Repetition, Beldam Gallery, Uxbridge. Catalogue
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2006 Monologue/Dialogue, BU Gallery, Bangkok. Catalogue
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2005 Art:21 Power /Memory/Structures/Play, Art Museum of Western Virginia
Ad Infinitum: The Aesthetics of Repetition II, Haines Gallery, San Francisco
Colour My World, Riflemaker, London
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2004 Upstarts, Haines Gallery, San Francisco
2x2, Dahl Gallery, Luzern
SELECTED REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
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2019 The Art Newspaper, Number 313, June 2019
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2018 Elle India, June 6, 2018 Between The Lines
The Telegraph, July 4, 2018
Arab News, May 31, 2018
Harpers Bazaar, July 9, 2018
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2017 Emel + Aris, 2018 Artist Rana Begum on her life in colour New York Times, March 22, 2017
Financial Times, March 17, 2017
Ocula, March 2017
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2016 Wallpaper* Magazine, July 2016
This is tomorrow, August 2016
ArtAsiaPacific, Review by Cleo Roberts, July 2016
Harpers Bazaar, July 2016
AD Magazine, November-December 2016
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2015 Artsy Editorial Oct 27th, 25 Must-See Shows This November
The Metropolist, Artist’s Portrait, by Rachel Holmes
Bazaar, Issue #200, Interview by Deepa Pant
Saturation Point, Interview by Patrick Morrisey
Verve Magazine, India, Framed, Text by Huzan Tata
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2014 Art Form, Issue 1
Financial Times, The Dhaka Art Summit Rachel Spence
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2013 Surface Magazine, Marina Cashdan, Issue 101
Time Out, Dubai
ArtAsiaPacific, Kevin Jones Issue 85
Ala Chamfest, Magazine No.6
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2012 Platform- creative lifestyle Jan/Feb
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2011 Mid-Day, Shape shifters invade city by Soma Das, Mumbai
Wallpaper, Colour Scheme by Deepanjana Pal
Vogue India, Shape Shifter by Deepanjana Pal
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2010 Time Out, India. Block Game by Zeenat Nagree
Art Asia Pacific by Hanea Ko
Time Out, London. In the studio by Helen Sumpter
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2009 Modern Painters, Back to Black by Jyoti Dhar
What’s On, Dubai, The line of beauty by Catherine Jarvie
Gulf News, Dubai newspaper, Lines of enchantment, Jyoti Kalsi
Time Out, Dubai, Solid Geometry by Chris Lord
The National, Dubai newspaper, Patterns of work by Ed Lake
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2008 Financial Times, Abstraction Rules OK by Jan Dalley
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2007 Vogue UK, October issue, The alchemists by Louisa Buck
LÓfficial Middle East, Colour Codes
OK, Dubai, Colour Codes
City Times, Dubai, Colour Codes
Gulf News, Dubai. Colour Codes
Time Out, Dubai, Issue 36, Colour Codes
Harper’s Bazaar, Dubai, Sep. 2007, Colour Codes
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2006 The Nation Newspaper, Bangkok, Monologue/Dialogue.