Rina Banerjee

One of the foremost artists of the post-colonial diaspora, Rina Banerjee's work is intricate and enchanting. Having grown up in mixed cultural communities as far apart as Kolkata and New York City, Banerjee's multi-faceted creations fuse the boundaries between East and West. There is a thoughtful sensitivity in the multiple materials that Banerjee uses in her work. Be it sculpture or painting, through the technique of collage, Banerjee is able to appropriately represent the density of the urban experience by suggesting disparate phenomena to coexist within the same framework. Though easily found in street markets, each of the objects used in her sculptures are selected with awareness of their origins. She uses items as varied as feathers, textiles, epoxy horns, beads and umbrellas to explore the material manifestations of anthropology, ethnography, mythologies and the Indian diaspora. Banerjee first dismantles and then "reclaims" their readymade status into the hand-made, reconstructing them into exquisite metaphors for the urban, post-colonial, expatriated community of which she is a part.

Born in Kolkata, India in 1963, Rina Banerjee is currently based in New York City. She completed her MFA in painting at Yale University School of Art, where she won several prestigious awards. She has been featured at "Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World" Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,Philadelphia(2019), Busan Biennale F1963 (KISWIRE Suyeong Factory), Busan (2016), "Greater New York" curated by Klaus Biesenbach, MOMA P.S. 1, New York (2015, 2005), the 55th Venice Biennale Venice, White Light/White Heat, Berengo Studio, Murano Glass Project, Curated by James Putnam (2013), the 7th Asia Pacific Triennale of Contemporary Art Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane (2012), Yokohama Triennial - Our Magic Hour, BankART 1929, Yokohama (2011) and the Whitney Biennial , Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2000). Her work is held in museum collections worldwide, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Foundation Louis Vuitton pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; amongst many others.