Rashid Rana (Pakistani, B.1968) Scatter in Time III
Rashid Rana (Pakistani, B.1968)
Scatter in Time III
2017-18
18 C Print + DIASEC
30 x 45cm (11 13/16 x 17 11/16in).
editions of 5
Provenance
Property from a private collection, England.
Acquired from the artist.
'The commonality within the works from Transliteration series (in progress) is that I take an image from a diverse pool and cut them into smaller fragments, digitally, of course. Then I reassembled and rearranged them either to resemble or to evoke a sensibility of another image from another time and place. It is an attempt to subvert linear ideas of time and space progressions and to offer a fractured view of chronology and geography.' Rashid Rana, Scatter in Time, Rashid Rana in conversation with Madyha Leghari, Leila Heller Gallery, 2017, p. 13.
Rana is a multidisciplinary artist who works across mediums that include video, photography, painting, and installation. Considered to be one of the leading contemporary artists of his generation, he is known for developing a conceptually-driven art practice, an example of which can be seen in the present lot.
This work comes from the phase of Rana's art practise often referred to as the Transliterations Series. In these works, Rana transposes imagery from a different time and place and manipulates it digitally to alter the context and meaning. In the current lot, titled Scatter in Time III, Rana has taken a digital image of the 1791 painting by Louis Gauffier, Odysseus recognises Achilles amongst the daughters of Lycomedes and has cut it into smaller fragments digitally and reassembled it to make it resemble the after math of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre. Known as the deadliest attack by an armed group in Pakistan and one of the world's deadliest massacres, the terrorist attack led to the deaths of 149 people, 132 of whom were school children aged between 8 and 18. Rana's slicing and stitching technique is akin to the tragedy that took place. It is at once violent, brutal and an act of subversion, that breaks apart and puts together the original image in a way which gives it a whole new meaning. Rana does not research the source paintings that he uses but instead chooses them for their iconic might and popularity. Despite this, it is easy to draw parallels between the two works and see how Gauffier's painting is about war, bloodshed and a mother wanting to protect her son; universal themes that have resonance across time and cultures. Thetis, Achilles mother, sent her son to the island of Scyros to prevent him from accompanying the Greek army to Troy. He lived amongst the daughters of Lycomedes, until he was found, and then sent to war.
Rana's genius lays in his ability to both engage with a contemporary tragedy and directly take from the cannon of art history in a deliberate and calculated manner, to give these paintings a completely new meaning and direction. He uproots these works from the European and classical contexts and brings them to the contemporary viewer, who is both a global citizen and part creator of the works.
To see a similar work sold at auction see Sotheby's, Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art, New York, 21st March 2022, lot 109.
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Rashid Rana (Pakistani, B.1968)
Scatter in Time III
2017-18
18 C Print + DIASEC
30 x 45cm (11 13/16 x 17 11/16in).
editions of 5
Provenance
Property from a private collection, England.
Acquired from the artist.
'The commonality within the works from Transliteration series (in progress) is that I take an image from a diverse pool and cut them into smaller fragments, digitally, of course. Then I reassembled and rearranged them either to resemble or to evoke a sensibility of another image from another time and place. It is an attempt to subvert linear ideas of time and space progressions and to offer a fractured view of chronology and geography.' Rashid Rana, Scatter in Time, Rashid Rana in conversation with Madyha Leghari, Leila Heller Gallery, 2017, p. 13.
Rana is a multidisciplinary artist who works across mediums that include video, photography, painting, and installation. Considered to be one of the leading contemporary artists of his generation, he is known for developing a conceptually-driven art practice, an example of which can be seen in the present lot.
This work comes from the phase of Rana's art practise often referred to as the Transliterations Series. In these works, Rana transposes imagery from a different time and place and manipulates it digitally to alter the context and meaning. In the current lot, titled Scatter in Time III, Rana has taken a digital image of the 1791 painting by Louis Gauffier, Odysseus recognises Achilles amongst the daughters of Lycomedes and has cut it into smaller fragments digitally and reassembled it to make it resemble the after math of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre. Known as the deadliest attack by an armed group in Pakistan and one of the world's deadliest massacres, the terrorist attack led to the deaths of 149 people, 132 of whom were school children aged between 8 and 18. Rana's slicing and stitching technique is akin to the tragedy that took place. It is at once violent, brutal and an act of subversion, that breaks apart and puts together the original image in a way which gives it a whole new meaning. Rana does not research the source paintings that he uses but instead chooses them for their iconic might and popularity. Despite this, it is easy to draw parallels between the two works and see how Gauffier's painting is about war, bloodshed and a mother wanting to protect her son; universal themes that have resonance across time and cultures. Thetis, Achilles mother, sent her son to the island of Scyros to prevent him from accompanying the Greek army to Troy. He lived amongst the daughters of Lycomedes, until he was found, and then sent to war.
Rana's genius lays in his ability to both engage with a contemporary tragedy and directly take from the cannon of art history in a deliberate and calculated manner, to give these paintings a completely new meaning and direction. He uproots these works from the European and classical contexts and brings them to the contemporary viewer, who is both a global citizen and part creator of the works.
To see a similar work sold at auction see Sotheby's, Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art, New York, 21st March 2022, lot 109.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
