Posted: August 17, 2017Written by: Lauren Milbourne

Tags: 2017, featured, press release

Cuesta College’s Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery is gearing up to host its first art exhibit of the fall 2017 semester, artist Anila Agha’s All the Flowers Are For Me, running August 24 - September 22. The exhibit kicks off on August 24 with a student reception at 12:00 p.m., followed by an official opening reception from 4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., including an artist talk in room 6304 at 5:30 p.m. 

Additional events include an informal reception with an artist talk and demonstration on August 25, from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., at SLO Makerspace located at 81 Higuera Street, Suite 160, in San Luis Obispo, and musical performances at the art gallery by the Cuesta College Performing Arts Department on September 16, from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Agha works in a cross-disciplinary fashion with mixed media, creating artworks that explore global politics, cultural multiplicity, mass media, and gender roles in our current cultural scenario. As a result, her artwork is conceptually challenging, producing complicated weaves of thought, artistic action, and social experience.

“Having lived on the boundaries of different faiths such as Islam and Christianity, and in cultures like Pakistan and the United States, my art is deeply influenced by the simultaneous sense of alienation and transience that informs the migrant experience,” said Agha. “Through the use of a variety of media, from large sculptural installations to embroidered drawings, I explore the deeply entwined political relationships between gender, culture, religion, labor and social codes.”

“It’s particularly exciting for Cuesta to be exhibiting this important work at this particular moment in time,” said Cuesta College’s Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery Coordinator Emma Saperstein. “Her work is timely, cross-disciplinary and immersive, and I am thrilled to be exhibiting it here.”

Agha holds a Master Degree of Fine Arts in Fiber Arts from the University of North Texas. Agha’s work has been exhibited in more than 17 solo shows and 50 group shows and has won numerous awards and grants, including the Cincinnati Art Museum’s 2017 Schiele Prize and the ArtPrize Grand Rapids in 2014.

The Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery is located in room 7170, on the San Luis Obispo campus of Cuesta College. It is open Monday-Friday, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and the 1st and 3rd Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, please call (805) 546-3202 or email gallery@cuesta.edu.