At Frieze Masters 2022 Grosvenor Gallery will exhibit historical work by Rasheed Araeen (b.1935) from the 12 - 16 October, booth B04.
Rasheed Araeen is an artist, writer and the Founding Editor of Third Text. As an artist, he began his journey in Pakistan in 1953, whilst also studying civil engineering. After doing some important works in Karachi, seminal to his subsequent pursuits, he came to the UK in 1964 and has since lived in London.
In the 1960s and 1970s, he became active in various groups supporting liberation struggles, democracy and human rights, which led him to writing 'Black Manifesto' (1975-76); and then to numerous publications: Black Phoenix (1978-79), Third Text (1987-2011), and Third Text Asia (2008-09). His present concern is with the Muslim world, for the promotion of its past achievements and what it can now do to be part of the modern world according to its own world view, values and vision.
Perhaps best known for his Geometric structures, first produced in the early 1960s, in which vertical and horizontal lines are held together by a network of diagonals (like the bracing struts used to strengthen latticed engineering constructions). These sculptures play on the links between Eastern and Western thought and the frameworks of social institutions and aesthetics. His most famous iteration of this concept is his interactive work Zero to Infinity (1964 - ongoing), which through audience participation, creates an infinite and ever-changing sculpture.
Alongside historical examples of Araeen's structures, powerful and shocking political works such as For Oluwale (1988) and The Golden Series (1974) will be exhibited, as well as his 1970 performance piece Chakras IV, River Seine, Paris.
In November 2022, Araeen's new book Islam & Modernism will be launched at the Aga Khan Centre in London. It is available to purchase now from our online store.
