Biography

Ranu Mukherjee (b. 1966, Boston) makes hybrid pieces in painting, moving image, and installation. Her practice is marked by a deliberate use of saturated color, the collision of tempos, and sensual materiality. The numerous and often imperceptible layers she employs evoke questions of visibility, legibility and abstraction. Her recent artwork is guided by the forces of ecology and non-human agency, diaspora and migration, motherhood and transnational feminisms.

 

Mukherjee's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the 18th Street Arts Center, Los Angeles (2022-2023) de Young Museum, San Francisco (2018-2019); the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design (2017); the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (2016); the Tarble Art Center, Charleston, IL (2016) and the San Jose Museum of Art, CA (2012) among others. Her immersive video installations have been presented in Natasha, Singapore Biennale 2022-2023, Karachi Biennial (2019) and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2016) as well as numerous group exhibitions internationally. Mukherjee has been the recipient of the 16th annual San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Awards (2023); a Pollock Krasner Grant (2020); a Lucas Visual Arts Fellowship at Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA (2019-2024); an 18th Street Arts Center Residency, Los Angeles(2022); Facebook AIR (2020);  de Young Museum Artist Studio Program (2017); the Space 118 Residency, Mumbai (2014); and a Kala Fellowship Award and Residency, Berkeley (2009). Her work is in the permanent collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; De Young Museum, San Francisco; the JP Morgan Chase Collection, New York; the Kadist Foundation, San Francisco and Paris; the Oakland Museum of California; the San Jose Museum of Art; and the San Francisco International Airport, among others.

 

Mukherjee co-created Orphan Drift, a London-based cyber-feminist collective and avatar making combined media works since 1994. They have participated in numerous exhibitions and screenings internationally including in London, Oslo, Berlin, Oberhausen, Glasgow, Istanbul, Vancouver, Santiago, Capetown, and the Bay Area.

 

Mukherjee received her B.F.A. in Painting, from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA in 1988, and her MFA in Painting at the Royal College of Art, London, UK in 1993. She lives and works in Los Angeles, and is the Dean of the School of Film/Video at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

Works
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "P L A C E: Reckonings by Asian American Artist," Institute of Contemporary Art San José, San José, CA , 2024
    Installation view, "P L A C E: Reckonings by Asian American Artist," Institute of Contemporary Art San José, San José, CA , 2024
  • Ranu Mukherjee, where she can enter into history on her own terms, 2024
    where she can enter into history on her own terms, 2024
  • Ranu Mukherjee, a place to find the light, 2023
    a place to find the light, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, bitter skin, 2023
    bitter skin, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, dance and sob, 2023
    dance and sob, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "Alice Rahon And Ranu Mukherjee: Time Warriors," Gallery Wendi Norris OFFSITE, New York, NY, 2023
    Installation view, "Alice Rahon And Ranu Mukherjee: Time Warriors," Gallery Wendi Norris OFFSITE, New York, NY, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, lithium grove, 2023
    lithium grove, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, night thicket, 2023
    night thicket, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, restless moon, 2023
    restless moon, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, time warriors, 2023
    time warriors, 2023
  • Ranu Mukherjee, American black cherry, 2022
    American black cherry, 2022
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "A Point Stretched: Views on Time," San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, 2022
    Installation view, "A Point Stretched: Views on Time," San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, 2022
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "Ensemble for Non-Linear Time," Singapore Biennale: Natasha, Distripark, Singapore, 2022
    Installation view, "Ensemble for Non-Linear Time," Singapore Biennale: Natasha, Distripark, Singapore, 2022
  • Ranu Mukherjee, lair (for Martha and friends), 2022
    lair (for Martha and friends), 2022
  • Ranu Mukherjee, these birds knew no rest, 2022
    these birds knew no rest, 2022
  • Ranu Mukherjee, unlanding, 2022
    unlanding, 2022
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "When the Path Through the Atmosphere is Longer," San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA, 2021
    Installation view, "When the Path Through the Atmosphere is Longer," San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA, 2021
  • Ranu Mukherjee, unsettling the gravity of assumptions, 2021
    unsettling the gravity of assumptions, 2021
  • Ranu Mukherjee, what we lose is all around us, 2021
    what we lose is all around us, 2021
  • Ranu Mukherjee, where we live, 2021
    where we live, 2021
  • Ranu Mukherjee, cut on the bias, 2020
    cut on the bias, 2020
  • Ranu Mukherjee, dear future, 2020
    dear future, 2020
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Facebook Artist in Residency, 2020
    Facebook Artist in Residency, 2020
  • Ranu Mukherjee, passage, 2020
    passage, 2020
  • Ranu Mukherjee, two centuries emerging from the hollows of a strangled host, 2020
    two centuries emerging from the hollows of a strangled host, 2020
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: A Bright Stage," de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, 2018
    Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: A Bright Stage," de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, 2018
  • Ranu Mukherjee, The Dead and the Wild, 2018
    The Dead and the Wild, 2018
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Today is a surprise, 2018
    Today is a surprise, 2018
  • Ranu Mukherjee, body language, 2017
    body language, 2017
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: Shadowtime," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2017
    Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: Shadowtime," Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2017
  • Ranu Mukherjee, something about moving Palms across oceans, 2017
    something about moving Palms across oceans, 2017
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Corridor, 2015
    Corridor, 2015
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: Extracted," Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, 2015
    Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: Extracted," Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, 2015
  • Ranu Mukherjee, Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: Telling fortunes," San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, 2012
    Installation view, "Ranu Mukherjee: Telling fortunes," San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, 2012
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