For Frieze Seoul, Jhaveri Contemporary is pleased to present a solo booth dedicated to Rana Begum. Known for her bright geometric abstraction that embraces diverse media and ranges from the monumental to the intimate, Begum is engaged in a continual experimentation with colour, light, and space. Taking cues from Minimalism and Islamic design and absorbing the languages of architecture in the urban environment, Begum's works are acutely aware of their viewer and seek their interaction.
The stand showcases three series united by their chevron designs. Two wall-based sculptures frame the booth. Made from reflective tiles, light bounces from their diamond-like arrangement creating a glistening effect. Like much of Begum's work and similar to sculptures shown at her major exhibition at Pitzhanger Manor in London, the pieces are contingent on the viewer and interact with their movement. Each tile captures a fragment of the streams of fair visitors and as the environment changes, the sculpture renews itself.
Begum evokes these plays with light in her series of delicate watercolours. Prepared on gridded paper, lively flecks of colour build up to create tonal mosaics. Light seems to ripple across each monochromatic shape creating a range of visual intensities across the picture plane. As much as these works represent a shift in Begum's practice from bold sculptures to the intimacy and ethereality of hand-painted forms, they are underpinned by the artist's preoccupation with spatial and visual experience.
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