Glasgow-based Hardeep Pandhal has attracted increasing attention since graduating from Glasgow School of Art's MFA course in 2013. Self-Loathing Flashmob, his 2018 exhibition at Kelvin Hall, was one of only a few by local artists in the commissioned programme for Glasgow International. In the same year, he was shortlisted for the Film London Jarman Award, and was included in the prestigious New Museum Triennial in New York.

Now, Pandhal becomes the first Glasgow-based artist for some time to be given the run of Tramway 2, Scotland's biggest exhibition space. He plans to fill it with work across a range of media (film, drawing, sculpture, rap) in his signature street aesthetic, produced with a healthy streak of sardonic humour.

Born into a Sikh family in Birmingham, Pandhal tackles the complexities of race and identity in his work with this Tramway show taking as its starting point a piece of pulp fiction from the 1830s, Confessions of a Thug by Philip Meadows Taylor. The word 'thug' originated in colonial India and was used for members of a violent sect; but many now believe the group's activities were sensationalised by the Brits for political reasons. All of this gives Pandhal and his rap alter ego Pakiveli plenty to get their teeth into.

Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 22 Mar.