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| COPYRIGHT OF KEN ADLARD |
Last
Friday saw the openings of Rashid Rana’s first major public show, titled
‘Everything Is Happening At Once’, and the Asia Triennial Manchester 11 at the
keystone of modern art in Manchester, Cornerhouse.
Rana’s
exhibition is an accumulation of his work from 2006 to present. His work looks
to blend the line between the viewers perception of imagery. With the use of
uniform grids, and matrixes of phenomenal quantity of photos, Rana challenges
his cultural heritage with underlining layers hidden within the scale, only
visible up close, a blur and unreadable at a glance. Particularly in Gallery 2,
‘Between Flesh and Blood’, there is a collection of works that challenge
culturally and politically the perception of multi-culture and unified world.
At a far the space appears to be littered with great mosaics and carpets from
Asia, yet up close you begin to see their true detail, and a new layer is
revealed. Small images build up the bigger picture, images of slaughtered
animals manifest themselves into a beautiful Persian carpet. A typical mosaic
begins to fade into a sea of tiled pornographic images, only visible at close
proximity. Other pieces that lay across the 3 floors range from the
aforementioned subjective images to grand scaled objects of art that use the
space and exploration of the viewer to create a unique interaction with itself.
Rana
work deals with the concept of scale beautifully, ‘Deseperatley Seeking
Paradise II’ draws you into to it’s grandeur and prominence in the room. As one
circles and begins to read what is on show the large scale skyline is revealed
out of nowhere. It then all changes, as one gets closer the scales shifts and
the revelation of the matrix of images depicting small houses from the artist’s
hometown of Lahore in Pakistan. The exhibition successfully engages with it’s
audience on many levels, and the interaction and visual teasing leads to an
enjoyable exploration of the space.
The
Asia Triennial Manchester 11 launched on Friday. A festival celebrating
contemporary visual art from Asia. Rana’s exhibition is just one of the
features happening between the 1st of October and 27th of
November. Cornerhouse is also showcasing the film programme for the festival
and a variety of talks curated for the festival. Events are happening across
the city and information about it can be found on their website; http://www.asiatriennialmanchester.com/
Cornerhouse
sits at the heart of contemporary culture in Manchester. It’s dominance of the
scene is a testament to the beliefs it works to, and the determination to
showcase contemporary pieces of all medias across all platforms. Except what
now is to become of Cornerhouse. Plans are already set in motion, with
international architects Mecanoo designing a new home for Cornerhouse and the
Library Theatre, what does the future hold for this landmark outlet of art. We
are all in awe of the current space, and some trepidation has to be felt for
the relocation and space that it will transition to. Finally what is to become
of the space in which we love to got to, will it’s function change, or is it
merely an expansion and faith in the success of contemporary art.
Rashid Rana: Everything is Happening at Once runs at
Cornerhouse, Manchester from Sat 01 Oct until Fri 30 Dec 2011 and admission is
free.
