ART-PRESENTATION: Rana Begum-The Space Between

Rana Begum, No. 680, Painting, 50 Panels (Detail), 2016, Courtesy of the artist and Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, Photo: Begum StudioRana Begum combines sculptural and painting elements, transforming the overpowering associations of urban debasement into poetic entities by building architectural superstructures with neatly ordered geometrics and colliding colour codes. The artist’s long-standing interest in simplicity, geometry, symmetry and repetition, is attributed to her childhood experiences of Islamic art and architecture which she has since combined with Constructivism and Minimalism.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art Archive

“The Space Between”, Rana Begum’s first solo presentation in a public institution in the United Kingdom, brings together a new installation and a selection of past and recent works. Since 2009, Begum’s works consisting of precisely arranged parallel aluminium bars have morphed into irregular polygonal shapes over-layed with brightly coloured triangular forms. These shapes are only visible when viewed from certain angles, forcing the viewer to move around. This action becomes a part of the work, a necessary step to “Complete the visual experience”. The vivid colours which the artist applies to the sides of the aluminium bars radiate onto the white spaces between them, creating overlapping shapes and disturbing the fixed and opaque identity of abstract form. In one work, “No. 531” (2014), 30 parallel sections of industrially powder-coated aluminium bars hang vertically on the wall. Each front-facing surface is white, while the inner and outer sides are sprayed in bright hues of red and blue. Passing in front of the work, viewers discover dynamic shifts in its colour and form. Rana Begum draws inspiration from the city environment, her own childhood memories of the geometric patterns of traditional Islamic art and architecture, also her work has been inspired, in large part, by some of the most well-known constructivist and minimalist artists from the West. “For me, Minimalism is about searching for something pure in both a spiritual and physical sense. Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly and Sol LeWitt brought my attention to the physicality of materials while simultaneously exploring light and colour in a way that, to my mind, Constructivism lacked. Their work suggested contemplation and serenity using materials that bore truth to structure, mass and surface. This exposure served as a catalyst for my need to create something that was beyond the material”. Crucial to Begum’s practice are the carefully selected colours and reflected light that accentuate the geometry within its forms. In her folded raw-metal wall pieces, such as “No. 489, L Fold” (2014), and “No. 394, L Fold” (2013), the vibrantly fluorescent colours of their painted undersides are reflected onto the supporting wall, thereby creating a new and subtle element that has a powerful effect.  In the new large-scale installation “No. 670” (2016), created especially for this exhibition, sections of industrial steel-mesh fencing are arranged in a massive maze-like structure that invites visitors to walk through it and physically experience the sense of infinity bound within the geometric repetition of its architectural configurations.

Info: Curator: Ziba Ardalan, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, 14 Wharf Road, London, Duration: 30/6-18/9/16, Days & Hours: Mon: by prior arrangement, Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, Sun 12:00-17:00, http://parasol-unit.org

Rana Begum, No. 531, 2014, Courtesy of the artis, Jhaveri Contemporary and Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White
Rana Begum, No. 531, 2014, Courtesy of the artist, Jhaveri Contemporary and Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White

 

 

 

 

Left: Rana Begum, No. 531, 2013, Courtesy of the artis and Parasol unitfoundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White. Right: Rana Begum, No. 563, W Fold, 2014, Courtesy of the artis, The Third Line and Parasol unitfoundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White
Left: Rana Begum, No. 531, 2013, Courtesy of the artist and Parasol unitfoundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White. Right: Rana Begum, No. 563, W Fold, 2014, Courtesy of the artist, The Third Line and Parasol unitfoundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White

 

Left: Rana Begum, No. 161, 2008, Courtesy of the artis and Parasol unitfoundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White
Left: Rana Begum, No. 161, 2008, Courtesy of the artist and Parasol unitfoundation for contemporary art, Photo: Philip White