The Presence of Your Absence Is Everywhere: Afruz Amighi

The Presence of Your Absence Is Everywhere is critically acclaimed artist Afruz Amighi’s first solo museum exhibition. This exhibition presents recent sculptures and drawings by the critically acclaimed artist, who was born in Iran in 1974 and has lived in the United States since 1977.  Using light and dark as her primary medium and telling stories in shadows, she creates sculptures made of industrial materials commonly found on urban construction sites. When illuminated, the sculptures defy their humble origins and mimic the effect of more decadent luxury objects, such as chandeliers, jewelry, and Persian metalwork. Recently, art deco architecture, Native American headdresses, and nuclear missiles have entered her repertoire of sources, alongside the art of the Middle East, as the artist engages with her mixed Iranian American heritage and current political events. The exhibition will include the suspended sculpture My House, My Tomb, which explores myths about the Taj Mahal and has never been exhibited in the United States.

Amighi is celebrated for her lyrical transformation of inexpensive materials into ethereal installations and sculptures, and uses light and dark to wondrous effect. She has received the Jameel Prize, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s prestigious international award for contemporary art and design inspired by the Islamic tradition. Her work is in the permanent collection of major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Morgan Library and Museum and has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale and in many group shows.

Image: Afruz Amighi. My House, My Tomb, 2015. Steel, fiberglass mesh, chain, and light, 168 x 90 x 70 in. each. Courtesy of the artist. © Afruz Amighi. Photo: Jeffrey Sturges

Source: Frist Art Museum