by alina bobrova

SHAAN KEN RAO is an inter-disciplinary artist born and based in New York City. He is half-Japanese and half-Pakistani. Shaan is in the second and final year of his MFA (in Integrated Practices) at Pratt, and prior to that has earned a BFA (in Photography) from Parsons. He has an interdisciplinary practice that ranges from painting, to photography, screenprinting, ink / image transfers and more. Shaan has recently taken part in the residency-then-exhibition program at Eli Klein Gallery (398 West St, NY)
(https://www.galleryek.com/exhibitions/best-by-07-21-2026-the-residency), with the opening of the exhibition being from 6-8pm, on Sept. 17th, 2026. 

Shaan has had a solo show at each of All St Gallery’s Manhattan locations (77 East 3rd Street, NY and 119 Hester St, NY), and has taken part in group shows at the Millennium Film Foundation (167 Wilson Ave, Brooklyn), and at the Gala Art Center (15-08 121st St, Queens). Otherwise he has worked for various photographers; notably, Victoria Sambunaris, William Wegman, and Kenji Toma, doing things like assisting shoots, post processing/retouching, darkroom processing video editing, etc. Shaan is also the frontman of the band, DINHO DINHO, which has headlined classic New York venues like Mercury Lounge, Bowery Electric, Nublu 151, Nicki’s Unisex, Alphaville, and more (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5oKN0BL4kOjno9nNW1JfTk)