BIO

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

• 2002  Slade School of Fine Art, London.

               MFA in Painting

• 1999   Chelsea College of Art and Design, London.

               BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree (Painting)

• 1996  University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

               BTEC Diploma in Foundation Studies in Art and Design.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS​​

• 2023 Ordered Form, St Alban’s Museum. Curated by Inna Allen

  Dappled Light, The Box, Plymouth. Curated by Sarah Shalgosky

• 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

• 2021  Infinite Geometry, Wanas Konst, Sweden

  Solo show, Kate MacGarry, London

• 2019  Solo show, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai

  Perception and Reflection, Third Line Gallery, Dubai​

• 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

• 2017  Space, Light, Colour Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich                   

• 2016  The Space Between, Parasol Unit, London​

• 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​

• 2014  Solo Show Galeri Mana, Istanbul

  Dhaka Art Summit, Jhaveri Contemporary, Bangladesh

• 2013  No.10, The Third Line, Dubai

  Manifold, Galerie Christian Lethert, Cologne

• 2012  Solo show, Bischoff/Weiss, London

• 2011  The Folded Page, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai

• 2010  Fractured Symmetry, Bischoff/Weiss, London

  Solo show, Delfina Foundation, London

• 2009  The Moment of Alignment, The Third Line, Dubai                 

• 2008  Transient Symmetry, VineSpace, London

• 2007  Colour Codes, The Third Line, Dubai

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 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​

• 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

• 2021  Rhythm & Geometry, SVAC, Norwich

  Breaking the Mould, Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park​

  Shapes, Alexander Berggruen, NY

  Folkstone Triennial, Folkstone Trennial, Folkstone

• 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

• 2019  Guests: Artists and Craftspeople, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul

  ​​​Is This Tomorrow? Whitechapel Gallery + Alserkal Arts Foundation, Dubai

  The of Colour Cristea Roberts Gallery, London

  Is This Tomorrow? Whitechapel Gallery, London​

• 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

• 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​

• 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

• 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 

• 2014  Ethereal, curated by Amin Jaffer, Leila Heller Gallery, New York

  The Language of Human Consciousness, Athr Gallery, Jeddah

• 2013  The Edge of Painting, The Piper Gallery, London

  Empty Line, curated by Nabila Mokrani, Galerie Bertrand Grimont, Paris​

• 2012  RA Summer show, London

• 2011  The Art and Math of the Fold, Ft-Contemporary, Berlin

  The New Middle East, Willem Baars, Amsterdam

  Common Logic, IMT, London

• 2010  Form & Phenomenon, Project88, Mumbai

  Serendipity City, Future Everything, Manchester

• 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

• 2008  Contact, Bricklane, Work No. 951, London. Catalogue

  Monologue/Dialogue Part II, Bischoff/Weiss, London

• 2007  Repetition and Sequence, Jerwood Space, London. Catalogue

  Sequence and Repetition, Beldam Gallery, Uxbridge. Catalogue

• 2006  Monologue/Dialogue, BU Gallery, Bangkok. Catalogue 

• 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​

• 2004  Upstarts, Haines Gallery, San Francisco

  2x2, Dahl Gallery, Luzern