“ALL THE FLOWERS ARE FOR ME”: This asercut lacquered steel and halogen bulb, work is featured in “Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven,” on view September 6 through January 11 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa. (Cincinnati Art Museum. Alice Bimel Endowment for Asian Art)
Anila Quayyum Agha’s light box installation, All the Flowers are for Me, opens on Saturday, September 6 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa. It is part of the East Coast appearance of a national tour of “Interwoven,” the largest retrospective ever on this Pakistani American artist. Agha opens viewers up to awe and wonder, while challenging the boundaries of art and craft with traditional techniques.
“I do not have a single story,” says Agha. “I have multiple stories that become interwoven to create a tapestry that is colorful, that is varied, that has pattern, that has beauty and light. We have to explore the multiple stories that make our lives.”
“Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven” surveys two decades of the artist’s practice across media, including sculpture, embroidery, painting and drawing. Comprising nearly 40 artworks drawn from key public and private collections, the exhibition illustrates the conceptual through lines 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 among 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.
Organized by the Westmoreland Museum of Art, “Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven” is at the the Wichita Art Museum before its presentation at the Michener.
The exhibit is made possible by support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Hillman Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Fine Foundation.
The Michener Art Museum is located at 238 South Pine Street in Doylestown, Pa. For more information, visit michenerartmuseum.org.