Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of this important Pakistani-American visual artist. It surveys two decades of the artist’s practice across media, including sculpture, embroidery, painting and drawing. Comprising nearly forty artworks drawn from key public and private collections, the exhibition illustrates the conceptual throughlines across the artist’s practice—interwoven concerns regarding belonging, access to knowledge and divine presence, and mutual solidarity. Whereas previous presentations of Agha’s work have focused on the artist’s signature light box pieces, for which she first gained critical and popular acclaim, this presentation will contextualize her signature light box pieces amongst her larger body of work.
Agha’s work prompts collective feelings of wonder and contemplation, disarming audiences with their splendor and allowing them to ponder deep questions regarding the history of women and the role of spirituality. She visually references wide-ranging sources and historical moments that center the interconnectedness of human stories, from the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain to medieval Venice to the American Light and Space movement of the 1960s. Her art demonstrates how the union of cultures can produce aesthetic spaces welcome to all.
Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven is organized by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. The exhibition is curated by Jeremiah William McCarthy. Presentation of the exhibition at the Michener Art Museum is coordinated by Laura Turner Igoe and Joshua Lessard.
To learn more visit: https://michenerartmuseum.org/exhibition/anila-quayyum-agha-interwoven/
Photo caption: Anila Quayyum Agha, All the Flowers Are For Me, 2016. Laser-cut lacquered steel and halogen bulb, 60 x 60 x 60 inches. Cincinnati Art Museum. Alice Bimel Endowment for Asian Art.
