Lot 124: * TP Rashid Rana (Pakistan, b. 1968) Red Carpet

Rashid Rana (Pakistan, b. 1968)
Red Carpet Chromogenic print and Diasec mount221 x 294cm (87 x 115 3/4in).

Provenance:Private Collection, Dubai;Sotheby's London, Contemporary Art Evening Auction, 17 October 2008, lot 6.Trained at the National College of Art in Lahore, Pakistan, and Massachusetts College of Fine Arts in Boston, Rashid Rana is a master of juxtaposition. Hailing from Pakistan, Rana's signature photomontage allegorical works have received international recognition. Red Carpet seemingly depicts a classical Persian rug but upon closer inspection the weave is made up of scenes of animal slaughter. From a distance the image is beautiful, the graduating colours suggests a softness of fabric creates an attractive almost homely image. In stark contrast is the sludgy brutality of the bloodied pixels.'Rashid Rana is interested in dualities those of space, time, tradition and culture. Throughout his career he has tapped into the tensions existing in these dualities by employing the technique of pixilation. In Rana's work multiple images simultaneously occupy the same space as either larger pictures comprised of smaller ones or source images are broken up and rearranged to resemble different subjects.'(Justine Ludwig in Translating the Intolerable Image', 'Scatter in Time Exhibition catalogue', p. 9)