Bio

Rasha Kahil (born 1980) is a visual artist living and working in London, originally from Beirut, Lebanon. She completed an MA in Communication Art & Design at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2009. Her projects take the form of photography, text, video and installation. She has exhibited solo and in group shows internationally, including in London, Istanbul, Zurich, Beirut and Paris (at the SLICK art fair).

Rasha is represented in the Middle East by The Running Horse gallery, Beirut, Lebanon.

“Half Middle Eastern half European in spirit, the artist carries with her the turmoil of Beirut’s past and its rising art scene, as well as London’s chaotic potential to constantly re-invent herself.” – Eve Without Adam

“The ordinary? The banal? The everyday? She seeks it, sublimes and exposes it, in all honesty. Without taboos. Without artifices, nor superfluousness. It is her photographic style. It is her. Quite simply.” – L’Orient le Jour

Artist Statement

Through my work, I explore the themes surrounding the gaze, and the dichotomy of the private and public through the recurrent use of the body as subject and object, to explore the Auto/Biographical. The body becomes a means for investigating displacement, social identity and its manifestation through everyday performance.

I am interested in the instances of tension that exist within ordinary moments. They are
‘the cusp’ of a narrative that cannot be read, but inferred; rarely understood, but felt.
Through the performative aspect of my work a shared universality transpires from the
awkwardness of the personal.

I work in different media (photography, video, installation) allowing the idea to dictate the form of the art project; to create a body of work that, although diverse in its visual outcomes, forms a coherent whole in its communicative aim.

Exhibitions / Publications

2012:

• Hijacked III, Quad gallery, Derby UK, Upcoming March 2012
• Full Rabbit, curated by Audio Architecture, Shoreditch Town Hall, upcoming Feb 2012
• Photo Opportunity, Maddox Arts, London, Upcoming Feb 9th 2012

2011:

• Compendium, ArtFirst Projects gallery, London, Nov 2011
• SLICK 2011 contemporary Art Fair, with The Running Horse art space, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Oct 2011
• Rasha Kahil / Liane Lang, duo exhibition, showing In Your Home, ArtFirst Projects gallery, London, Oct 2011
• In Your Home, The Empire Project gallery, Istanbul, Sept 2011 [ Solo Show ]
• "The Sporting Club" published in arts & culture e- journal Nowness.com, UK, July 2011
• Human, The Empire Project gallery, Istanbul, June 2011
• "Manja and Nina" photo series published in Deadstock magazine, June 2011, UK
• In Your Home, The Running Horse space, Beirut, June 2011 [ Solo Show ]
• Launch of In Your Home self-published book, June 2011
• Gems, photography book, part of Point of Vue Female book series, published by oodee. Launch with exhibition at KK Outlet, London, Feb 2011
• NoFound to New Documents #1, Victor Wynd Fine Art, London, Feb 2011

2010:

• In the Trenches, The Running Horse art space, Beirut, Dec 2010
• "II" and photography triptych published in erotic anthology Nuits Beyrouthines, Tamyras Editions, Lebanon, Nov 2010
• "Men and Children" published in Vague Paper, issue 8, London, Nov 2010
• SLICK contemporary Art Fair, with The Running Horse art space, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Oct 2010
• The Corridor to Success, curated by The Composing Rooms, Bloomsbury, London, Oct 2010
• The Shameless, Solo exhibition, Zico House gallery, Beirut, July 2010 [ Solo Show ]
• Counting Thoughts, The Running Horse art space, Beirut, Apr 2010
• "Poses" published in Edwarda magazine, issue 2, France, Apr 2010
• The Dig's Love Equinox, Passing Clouds, Dalston, London, Mar 2010
• Bastakiya Art Fair, "The Eye" presented by The Running Horse contemporary art space, Dubai, Mar 2010
• Soft Sculpture (or the Ordinary Reinterpreted), The Running Horse contemporary art space, Beirut, Feb 2010
• "Letters between A & Z" published in Vague Paper, issue 7, London, Jan 2010

2009:

• The Corridor: PixelPops09, BolteLang Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland, Dec 2009
• Acoustic Images, British Film Institute (BFI), London, July 2009
• RCA Graduate Show 2009, exhibiting "Poses" and launching the "XI and la Gueule du Monde" art publication. Poses was awarded the Carl Garnham Prize for Photographic Media. June 2009
• The Affluenza Exhibition, St. John's warehouse Clerkenwell, London, showing site-specific installation "M for Stalking", Mar 2009
• Performed Narratives, with filmmaker Sanna Kuittinen, Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, Feb 2009
• Quiet Please, GSK Contemporary at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, Jan 2009

2008:

• RCA Interim Show, Gulbekian Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, Dec 2008
• Spiritual Promises, curated by Cosmicmegabrain, Cordy House, London, Oct 2008
• Oberon Book Illustration exhibition, Royal College of Art, London, Apr 2008
• Beyond the Surface, Passion for Print exhibition, Hockney Gallery,
Royal College of Art, London, Feb 2008

2006:

Today is a Beautiful Day, illustration exhibition, Nog Gallery, London, Oct 2006

2005:

Winner of the Al Jourd photo competition, Lebanon, Oct 2005

Education

2009, MA Communication Art & Design, Royal College of Art, London, UK

2004, BA Graphic Design, American University of Beirut, Lebanon