Haroon Mirza (born 1977) is a British contemporary visual artist, of Pakistani descent. He is best known for sculptural installations that generate audio compositions.

Early life and education

Mirza was born in 1977 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He is of Pakistani descent. Mirza holds an MA degree (2007) in Fine Art from

Chelsea College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further education, further ...

; an MA degree (2006) in Design, Critical Practice from

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the ...

; and a BA degree (2002) in Painting from

Winchester School of Art Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England. History The Winchester School of Art was founded in 187 ...

Projects and exhibitions

He has collaborated with actor, musician, writer and curator

Richard Strange Richard "Kid" Strange (born January 1951) is an English writer, actor, musician, and curator, who was the founder and front man of mid-1970s protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness. Music Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed ...

on two major works: "A Sleek Dry Yell", a sound and performance piece created with texts and performance by Strange, which was subsequently bought by The Contemporary Art Society and toured regional galleries, and "The Last Tape", with unrecorded lyrics by Ian Curtis of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

performed by Strange in the style of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and Tragicomedy, tr ...

's Krapp's Last Tape. Mirza and Strange presented this work at New Territories, The International Festival of Live Art in Glasgow in 2011 and at

Chisenhale Gallery Chisenhale Gallery is a non-profit contemporary art gallery based in London's East End. Background The organisation focuses on a programme of commissioned exhibitions, events, performances and talks. The gallery occupies the ground level of a ...

, London and the

Vivid Vivid may refer to: Music * Vivid (band), a Japanese rock band * "Vivid" (song), by Electronic, 1999 *"ViViD", a 2016 song by Loona from '' HeeJin'' Albums * ''Vivid'' (Vivian Green album), 2015 * ''Vivid'' (Crystal Kay album), 2012 * ''Vivi ...

Gallery, Birmingham. Mirza and Strange were also part of 'Cabaret Futura' a group exhibition at Cell Project Space, London, in 2008. Lisson Gallery hosted Mirza's solo show in early 2011. In the same year his work was also displayed at the 54th

Venice Biennial The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest o ...

, as well as in the British Art Show 7. In 2011 Mirza was also involved in ''An Echo Button'' a project for Performa Biennial with artists

Ed Atkins Ed Atkins (born 1982) is a British contemporary artist best known for his video art and poetry. He is currently based in Berlin. Atkins lectures at Goldsmiths College in London and has been referred to as "one of the great artists of our time" b ...

and James Richards in which they temporarily took over the large screens in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. Mirza also had another solo show called ''I Saw Square Triangle Sine'' at

Camden Arts Centre Camden Art Centre (formerly known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967 and Camden Arts Centre until 2020) is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England that hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects. T ...

, London in 2011, which was to tour to Spike Island, Bristol in 2012 and

The Hepworth Wakefield The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born an ...

in 2013. In 2012, the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...

held Mirza's first solo museum exhibition in the United States. Mirza participated in "Roundtable": The 9th

Gwangju Biennale The Gwangju Biennale is a contemporary art biennale founded in September 1995 in Gwangju, South Jeolla province, South Korea. The Gwangju Biennale is hosted by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and the city of Gwangju. The Gwangju Biennale Found ...

, which took place from September to November 2012 in Gwangju, Korea. Mizra's work was included in '' Soundings: A Contemporary Score,'' at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

, New York City from August to November 2013. In 2018, the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, UK, opened a Mirza exhibition called 'Reality is somehow what we expect it to be'.

Awards

Notable awards include the

Northern Art Prize The Northern Art Prize was an annual arts prize, established in 2006 and first awarded in 2007, that was created to celebrate contemporary artists practising in the North of England, which it defined as the North, the North West and Yorkshire and Hu ...

in 2010. He received the Silver Lion for Most Promising artist in 2011 at the 54th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

''Illuminations''. He received the DAIWA Art Prize in 2012 and in 2014 was awarded the

Zurich Art Prize Zurich Art Prize is a Swiss art prize that has been awarded annually by the Museum Haus Konstruktiv together with the Zurich Insurance Group, since 2007. The award includes a cash prize (roughly $100,000 USD), and a solo exhibition in a museum. ...

and the Nam June Paik Art Centre Award 2014. In 2015 he won the Calder Prize. He also won the Collide International Award in 2017.

References

External links

Official website

Haroon Mirza at Lisson Galley

Frieze Focus:Haroon Mirza

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza, Haroon 1977 births British artists of Pakistani descent British installation artists British contemporary artists English people of Pakistani descent Living people Artists from London