Haroon Mirza

Haroon Mirza (b.1977, London) is known for installations that test the interplay and friction between sound, light waves, and electric current. He describes his role as a composer, manipulating electricity—a live, invisible, and volatile phenomenon—to make it dance to a different tune. He calls on instruments as varied as household electronics, vinyl and turntables, LEDs, furniture, video footage, and existing artworks to behave differently. Processes are left exposed, and sounds occupy space in an unruly way, testing codes of conduct and charging the atmosphere. Mirza asks us to reconsider the perceptual distinctions between noise, sound, and music, and draws into question the categorization of cultural forms.

Recent solo exhibitions of his work have been held at CCA Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu, Japan (2020); John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, and Aberdeen Art Gallery, UK; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; and Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China (2019); Ikon, Birmingham, UK; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; and Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen (2018); Zabludowicz Collection, London; LiFE, Saint-Nazaire, France; and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2017). Group shows have included the Lille Triennale, Lofoten International Art Festival, and 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (2022); Liverpool Biennial and Look At Us Now, STUK Arts Center, Leuven, Belgium (2021); Lahore Biennale, Pakistan (2020); Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale, China (2012); and the Venice Biennale (2011), where he was awarded the Silver Lion. Among other prizes, he won CERN’s COLLIDE International Award in 2017.

Haroon Mirza has a BA in painting from Winchester School of Art, and MAs in critical practice and theory from Goldsmiths College, London, and in fine art from Chelsea College of Art and Design.