Lot 608: RASHID RANA (B. 1968)

RASHID RANA (B. 1968)
Offshore Accounts 2
chromogenic print and Diasec mounted
78½ x 147 in. (199.4 x 373.4 cm.)
number three from an edition of five

Brisbane, Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art, 5th Asia Pacific Triennial, December 2006 - May 2007 (another from the edition exhibited)

Partially alluding to an historic cultural divide between 'East' and 'West', Rashid Rana juxtaposes contrasting stereotypes with brilliant alacrity in Offshore Accounts - 2. Fascinated by the mass dissemination of information within a globalized world, the artist's pixilated photographic practice here proffers an alternative reading of nature juxtaposed with culture and waste. Simultaneously exploring the potentialities of 'gestalt' and of more pronounced illusions, Offshore Accounts - 2 optically coalesces to appear as a vista of swelling ocean waves which at first glance offer a contemplative actuality; then pulled to examine the minutiae, as the viewer draws nearer tiny images (pixels) of sailing vessels, reminiscent of a colonialist history of the high seas, become visible and engage a post-colonial dialogue. Rana comments on the neo-colonialism borne of US involvement in Pakistani internal and political affairs.