Ranu Mukherjee (born 1966) is a multi-disciplinary American contemporary artist of Indian and European descent based in San Francisco, California.[1][2]

Ranu Mukherjee
Born1966 (1966)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Artist; Film Program Chair at the California College of Arts, San Francisco
Known forHybrid art, painting, film, installation, media art, arts educator.
Websitewww.ranumukherjee.com

Mukherjee's practice includes painting, installation, sculpture, video art, performance, hybrid films, works on paper, and collaborative projects. Her work focuses on processes of creolization, the figure of the nomad, and speculative narratives. Mukherjee’s work also generally refers to embodiment, ecology, science fiction, and the unknown to explore the narrative excess and material conditions brought on by global capitalism.[3]

Education edit

Ranu Mukherjee received her BFA in Painting and Film from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, in 1988, and her MFA from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1993.[4][5]

Art career edit

Best known for creating strongly colored large scale installations that combine mediums such as print, paint, and drawings,[6] her work has focus on topics such as colonialism, feminism, and ecology.[2][3]

Mukherjee has stated that most of her work comes from a neo-futurist perspective as she aims to generate creative thinking among her audience. She also penned the term "hybrid film" as a label for her animated art that combines painted, photographic, and digital work into unique pieces.[2][7]

Ranu Mukherjee co-founded 0rphan Drift, a collaborative artist and avatar, in London in 1994. For a decade, 0rpahn Drift collaborated with numerous people on mostly site-specific works. As an artistic entity, 0rphan Drift is known for immersive and visually complex works which use the sample and the remix extensively. It produced video and AV performance, collage, text and print works, and published the cyberpunk novel 0(rphan)<d(rift) Cyberpositive.[8]

In 2006, Ranu Mukherjee and fellow co-founder Maggie Roberts restarted 0rphan Drift as a duo. They believed 0rphan Drift’s approach could be applied to the new era of social media, Artificial Intelligence and virtual reality. In its latest manifestation, 0rphan Drift considers AI through the octopus – as a distributed, many-minded consciousness.[9]

Mukherjee worked solely with the artist collaborative between 1994 and 2005.[4][10]

After earning her degrees in art, she began teaching at Goldsmiths College in London in 1994. In 2002 She moved to San Francisco, California, where she teaches at California College of the Arts.[4][11]

Select exhibitions edit

Solo exhibitions edit

  • 2018 A Bright Stage, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA[12][13][14]
  • 2017 Shivery Proof, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Lancaster, PA[15][14]
  • 2017 Shadowtime, Gallery Wendy Norris, San Francisco, CA[16][14]
  • 2016 Phantasmagoria, Table Arts Center, Charleston, IL[17][14]
  • 2015 Extracted: A Trilogy by Ranu Mukherjee, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA[18][19][14]
  • 2016 Phantasmagoric, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles CA[20][14]
  • 2012 Telling Fortunes, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA[21][14]

Group exhibitions edit

  • 2018 "Be Not Still", di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA[22][14]

Collections edit

Publications edit

  • Mukherjee, Ranu (December 12, 2017). "Connective Tissue". Art Practical. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  • Mukherjee, Ranu (2019-07-03). "Monkey's Fist". Art Journal. 78 (3): 125. doi:10.1080/00043249.2019.1655341.

Bibliography edit

  • Dance Magazine. “Building Bridges.” Dance Magazine. Dance Magazine, October 1, 2020[26]
  • “Ranu Mukherjee.” In The Make. Accessed March 19, 2021[27]
  • “Ranu Mukherjee - Gallery Wendi Norris: San Francisco.” Gallery Wendi Norris | San Francisco. Gallery Wendi Norris | San Francisco, October 20, 2020[28]

References edit

  1. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee Dear Future". 18th Street. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Waraich, Sonia (January 22, 2016). "Asian Art Museum celebrates South Asia as Part of Golden Jubilee". India West. San Leandro, Calif: India West.
  3. ^ a b "Color of History, Sweating Rocks". kadist.org. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  4. ^ a b c "People Finder - California College of the Arts - Portal". portal.cca.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  5. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee Biography". San Jose Museum of Art. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee". Maine College of Art. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  7. ^ Art School | Ranu Mukherjee's Hybrid Films | Episode 61, retrieved 2021-03-18
  8. ^ "0rphan Drift". www.merliquify.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  9. ^ Carey-Kent, Paul. "0RPHAN DRIFT: CAN OCTOPUSES CHANGE OUR WORLD?". www.seismamag.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee Biography". San Jose Museum of Art. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee April 1 – 29, 2020". 18th Street Arts Center. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  12. ^ "Ranu Mudherjee: A Bright Stage". San Francisco Bay Times. 12 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee: A Bright Stage". de Young. 2018-05-08. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ranu Mukherjee CV". www.ranumukherjee.com. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  15. ^ "'Shivery Proof': The art of Ranu Mukherjee". Pennsylvania College of Art & Design | PCA&D. December 12, 2017. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  16. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee | Shadowtime". Gallery Wendi Norris | San Francisco. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  17. ^ "Eastern Illinois University :: Tarble Arts Center - Archived Exhibitions". www.eiu.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  18. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee Unearths Buried Histories in 'Extracted' Trilogy". KQED.
  19. ^ "Extracted: A Trilogy by Ranu Mukherjee | Exhibitions | Asian Art Museum". Exhibitions. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  20. ^ Romain, Julie (May 2, 2016). "All that Glitters Is Gold: Ranu Mukherjee's Phantasmagoric | Unframed". unframed.lacma.org. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  21. ^ "Exhibitions + Collection". San José Museum of Art. 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  22. ^ Giles, Gretchen (June 28, 2018). "Part Two of di Rosa's 'Be Not Still' a Lesson in the Importance of Being Earnest". KQED. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  23. ^ "San José Museum of Art". San José Museum of Art. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  24. ^ "Asian Art Museum Online Collection". searchcollection.asianart.org. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  25. ^ "Asian Art Museum Online Collection". searchcollection.asianart.org. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  26. ^ "Building Bridges". Dance Magazine. 10 September 2020.
  27. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee | In The Make | Studio visits with West Coast artists". inthemake.com.
  28. ^ "Ranu Mukherjee". Gallery Wendi Norris | San Francisco.

External links edit