Khairullah Rahim is a contemporary artist with a multidisciplinary practice spanning installation, object-making, painting, photography, and time-based media. He holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University (2023), in New Jersey, USA, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) from LASALLE College of the Arts (2013), Singapore, where he currently serves as an adjunct lecturer.
Khairullah’s work explores themes of queerness, POZ resilience, and working-class experiences, focusing on strategies of resourcefulness and survival within systems of pervasive surveillance. His practice critically examines the ethics of visibility and disclosure, often advocating for the indispensable role of opacity in representation. Through collaboration and critical inquiry, he engages with veiled narratives within his community, addressing intersections of desire, ambition, labour, resistance, and safety. Materially, he continues to experiment extensively with the sheen, reflection, and refraction of synthetic polymers; most evidently through rhinestones.
His works have been exhibited internationally at the Barbican Centre (London), Tai Kwun (Hong Kong), CCA (Glasgow), Tiger Strikes Asteroid (New York), Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (Thailand), and National Gallery Singapore, among others. He has undertaken artist residencies at Salzburger Kunstverein (Austria), Facebook (Singapore), Hubei Institute of Fine Arts (China), Taipei Artist Village (Taiwan), and YOUKOBO Art Residency Programme (Japan). Notable projects include the 6th Singapore Biennale; curated by Patrick Flores presented at Gillman Barracks (Singapore), Silent Hands; curated by Rotana Shaker, Zain Al Saie and Jean Wong presented at Hayy Jameel (Saudi Arabia), and HIV Science as Art; curated by Daniel Cordner and Jessica Whitbread presented at Brainlab (Germany). Khairullah was awarded the 2017 IMPART Award in the Visual Arts category. His works are part of the collections of the Singapore Art Museum and the SUNPRIDE Foundation.
Khairullah’s work explores themes of queerness, POZ resilience, and working-class experiences, focusing on strategies of resourcefulness and survival within systems of pervasive surveillance. His practice critically examines the ethics of visibility and disclosure, often advocating for the indispensable role of opacity in representation. Through collaboration and critical inquiry, he engages with veiled narratives within his community, addressing intersections of desire, ambition, labour, resistance, and safety. Materially, he continues to experiment extensively with the sheen, reflection, and refraction of synthetic polymers; most evidently through rhinestones.
His works have been exhibited internationally at the Barbican Centre (London), Tai Kwun (Hong Kong), CCA (Glasgow), Tiger Strikes Asteroid (New York), Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (Thailand), and National Gallery Singapore, among others. He has undertaken artist residencies at Salzburger Kunstverein (Austria), Facebook (Singapore), Hubei Institute of Fine Arts (China), Taipei Artist Village (Taiwan), and YOUKOBO Art Residency Programme (Japan). Notable projects include the 6th Singapore Biennale; curated by Patrick Flores presented at Gillman Barracks (Singapore), Silent Hands; curated by Rotana Shaker, Zain Al Saie and Jean Wong presented at Hayy Jameel (Saudi Arabia), and HIV Science as Art; curated by Daniel Cordner and Jessica Whitbread presented at Brainlab (Germany). Khairullah was awarded the 2017 IMPART Award in the Visual Arts category. His works are part of the collections of the Singapore Art Museum and the SUNPRIDE Foundation.