London-based artist Rana Begum brings her first solo New York exhibition to Lehmann Maupin, presenting 18 works that investigate how light, color and form can transform the experience of space.
Working with industrial materials including glass, metal, chain-link structures and automotive components, Begum creates precise compositions that change as viewers move around them. Her practice turns familiar materials into dynamic visual environments, where perception becomes an active part of the artwork.
Color in Motion
Begum describes light, form and color as the three inseparable elements of her work. While each series may foreground one of these qualities, their interplay shapes every piece, producing subtle shifts between surface, shadow and reflection.
A central work in the exhibition, No. 1628 from 2026, is constructed from powder-coated aluminum bars arranged across the wall. Bright yellow and pink painted edges interact through carefully measured spacing, generating changing tones and geometric impressions as the viewing position changes.
The result is an optical experience built without representational imagery: color appears to expand, recede and form new visual relationships through movement and ambient light. Begum's approach connects minimalist geometry with an intuitive, sensory understanding of architecture and everyday materials.
By making perception itself a creative medium, Begum's work points toward a future in which art and designed spaces can become more responsive to movement, attention and changing light.
