Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum Announces SHIMMERING MIRAGE Now Through January 5
“Shimmering Mirage” was conceived and created by American-Pakistani artist Anila Guayyum Agha and is on exhibit now through January 5, 2025.
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 20, 2024
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum has announced its new exhibition, “Shimmering Mirage,” a large-scale installation that uses light, shadow and pattern to create an immersive, shared experience.
Located in the Museum's new Immersive Gallery, “Shimmering Mirage” was conceived and created by American-Pakistani artist Anila Guayyum Agha and is on exhibit now through January 5, 2025. Admission is free.
Please note : the Museum will be closed from Aug 5 – Sept 12 for summer break.
A large-scale white cube made of heavy cut steel, “Shimmering Mirage” is illuminated from within, with delicate lace-like patterns carved on the surface. Suspended from the ceiling, the sculpture casts magical shadows and patterns on the turquoise gallery walls, which transforms the space in tandem with movement of the visitors.
“Mixing reflections and shadows with solid forms, my artwork aspires simultaneously to be perceptually soothing and conceptually challenging,” say Agha. “The somewhat familiar Islamic geometric motifs allow me to re-interpret these motifs from the everyday and elevate them to the extraordinary. My goal is to explore the binaries of public and private, light and shadow and static and dynamic by relying on the purity and inner symmetry of geometric design, and the interpretation of the cast shadows, both in the sculptural installations and the flatwork.”
“Shimmering Mirage”
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum
1 E. Main St.,
Mesa AZ 85201
Museum hours:
Mon: CLOSED
Tue–Sat: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sun: Noon–5 p.m.
Museum Summer Closure: August 5 – September 13
For more information, visit mesaartscenter.com/museum or call 480-644-6560. Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum is located at 1 East Main Street in downtown Mesa, AZ. Admission is always free.
About Anila Guayyu Agha
Agha (b. 1965) is internationally recognized for her award-winning large-scale installations that use light, shadow and pattern to create inclusive, immersive & shared experiences. Exhibitions include national museums like Amon Carter Museum in Texas to international museums like National Sculpture Museum, Valladolid, Spain, and the Chimei Museum, Taiwan. Agha's work has been shown at international Art Fairs like Masterpiece-London, Delhi Art-Fair, Abu Dhabi Art-Fair and the Armory. Major awards include the 2019 Painters and Sculptors Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the 2021 SARF (Smithsonian Artist Fellowship). In 2019, Agha's work was included in She Persists at the Venice Biennale.
About Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum
As part of Mesa Arts Center, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum (MCA Museum) showcases the best in contemporary art by emerging, nationally and internationally recognized artists. MCA Museum provides support and advancement to artists through solo, group and juried exhibitions. MCA Museum's free admission and strong engagement programs provide visitors with free school and public tours, a robust docent program and free artist talks.
About Mesa Arts Center
Mesa Arts Center, owned and operated by the City of Mesa, is a unique, architecturally stunning facility located in the heart of downtown Mesa. Arizona's largest arts center is home to four theaters, five art galleries and 14 art studios. Guests, patrons and students come to Mesa Arts Center to enjoy the finest live entertainment and performances, world-class visual art exhibitions and outstanding arts education classes. Mesa Arts Center's mission is to inspire people through engaging arts experiences that are diverse, accessible and relevant.
For more information, visit mesaartscenter.com.
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