Zurich Art Prize 2014: Haroon Mirza

Museum Haus Konstruktiv and the Zurich Insurance Group are delighted to honor this year's winner of the "Zurich Art Prize" 2014, Haroon Mirza (b. 1977 in London). This Anglo-Pakistani artist is the seventh artist who received this award, which was established in close cooperation with the Zurich Insurance Group. The prize money of CHF 80,000 was put to use in a solo exhibition, specially conceived for Museum Haus Konstruktiv.

Haroon Mirza impressed the jury with his poetic light and sound installations. His artistic activity is experimental; he is a bricoleur who combines electronic sounds, color arrangements and light to produce captivating compositions. Obsolete and newer technologies alike (e.g. cassette recorders or record players on the one hand, LED strips and computers on the other hand) form an essential component of his comprehensive artworks. The recurring elements of his installations, which create unusual perception experiences for the public, include not only light and sound, but also videos and furniture assemblages. This London-based artist's compositions come across like electronic operas, orchestrations made from the utilized material and found architecture. The form and content of his works always refer to the respective exhibition location and adapt to the space. Moreover, they also make identifiable references to the history of art and music: from minimalism to 1960s kinetic art, through to the music of Edgar Varèse and Karlheinz Stockhausen, or to techno.

For the exhibition at Museum Haus Konstruktiv, a series of new wall-mounted objects were produced, in which the shining of LEDs is controlled by means of a solar-cell circuitry system. The recurring elements of his installations, which create unusual perception experiences for the public, include not only light and sound, but also videos and furniture assemblages.