Rana Begum: Perception and Reflection

The Third Line is pleased to present Perception and Reflection, Rana Begum’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. Comprised entirely of reflectors, Rana’s latest body of work captures the unexpected geometries of urban environments while light continues to hold sway over the works’ formal aspects.

The exhibition takes its cues from Rana’s 2006 British Council residency in Bangkok, where she first experimented with reflectors as a medium for creative expression. Interested in readymade materials for their ability to translate abstract ideas into tangible forms, Rana returned to reflectors a decade later with a 50 meter long work installed at Lewis Cubitt Square in London’s King’s Cross in 2016.

Fast forward a couple of years and scale down a couple of feet, Rana’s new reflector works describe our ever-evolving built environment. Inspired by the straightforward patterns and vibrant colors of roadsigns and the way in which their surfaces shift as the day progresses, these works too shift and change as light exposure varies and as viewers walk around them. Complementing Rana’ wall-based pieces are towering structures that echo Dubai’s vibrant cityscape.

Akin to our urban environments, Rana’s new body of work reveals a world of contrasts: the reflectors’ static nature yet perpetual movement; the preciousness of an artwork and the simplicity of quotidian materials; the clear delineation of each work yet the sense of infinity its constitutive elements and repetitive patterns conjure. Beyond such dichotomies, what Rana’s works succeed to orchestrate is the contemplative nature of urban chance encounters.