Norwich artist Anmar Mirza opens new show

Works of acrylic, pencil, crayon and woven tapestries fill the walls of Moosey Gallery as the well-loved Norwich artist opens his new show.

Returning for a second time, after showing in the gallery's former space in 2015, 29-year-old Anmar Mirza is one of just a handful of the city's artists represented in the space, and the exhibition marks a decade of the friends working together.

Anmar Mirza: Life is a Mess is reflective, personal, bright, bold and confident.

The artist is  best-known for his graphic, colourful work, including murals, which started in Norwich nightclubs. 

Murals around the city include his vast creation on a wall overlooking Exchange Street, which led to invitations to paint in London and across Europe. 

Anmar says: “A clouded mind views life through a distorted lens which is fuelled by emotion and made up narratives.

"This body of work is broken into fragments of memories and emotions, which ultimately led to a sense of clarity and freedom.

"Some parts are chaotic and messy, while others are soft and fuzzy, and some aren't about the individual at all. Life is a mess.”

The show reflects a period of the artist's life when he ended up on bed rest for a year, five years ago. Anmar says: “There was six months of rehabilitation and strength exercises to get my physical health back… then the best day in three years. I got to ride my bike - it was like a milestone I never thought would arrive.” 

Anmar talks of his newly reclaimed freedom, finding great joy in the small details of nature, and how this gave him a renewed mental strength.

Paintings portray feelings rather than likeness', emotions and absence. Vulnerability is shown throughout the warm canvases, via recurring eyes peering from the background. 

Anmar Mirza: Life is a Mess, is free to enter at Moosey Gallery, in Labour Vain Yard, Norwich, until March 19.