Image: Anita Rogers Gallery, New York
Anita Rogers Gallery’s exhibition ‘Shirin Mirjamali & Lily Sage’ reaches its final day on August 29 in New York, concluding a presentation that brings together Mirjamali’s mixed-media works on paper and handmade artist book with Lily Sage’s illuminated plaster sculptures. The exhibition has been on view from July 10 at the gallery’s space at 494 Greenwich Street, Ground Floor.
The presentation marks Sage’s first exhibition with Anita Rogers Gallery. The artist’s sculptures include ‘Hot Water Bottle 2,’ made from plaster, cotton, light bulbs and wires; ‘Carnival Squash Chandelier,’ which combines plaster, cotton, stainless steel, cardboard, plastic, six lightbulbs and wire; and ‘Baby’s Breath Chandelier,’ made with plaster, Gypsophila, wire, brass and light bulbs. ‘Bad Balloon,’ dated 2026, uses plaster, cotton, paper, cardboard, wire and a lightbulb.
Sage is identified by the gallery as an artist and funeral director who works in plaster, oils and watercolor. Their sculptures are primarily made from found objects and plaster, with each piece wired by hand. The gallery’s exhibition text says Sage uses natural objects sourced from their immediate environment or collected and shipped to their home base in New York City. Recent inspirations listed by the artist include candlelight, squash, identity and impermanence.
Mirjamali’s contribution consists of works on paper dated 2024 and 2025, including pieces in mixed media measuring from intimate 6-by-8-inch and 8-by-8-inch formats to a 59-by-59-inch work. The exhibition announcement also highlights her handmade artist book. The gallery describes Mirjamali’s process as intuitive: she begins without knowing where a work will end, following thoughts and emotions while allowing colors and materials to guide the work toward resolution.
Born in Iran in 1983, Mirjamali lives and works in Tehran. She received an MFA in painting from Soore University in Tehran and is a member of the Iranian Painters Association. According to the gallery, her work explores tensions between inner and outer worlds, bodies and minds, spoken words and hidden desires, as well as contrasting emotional and physical states. The exhibition text characterizes the resulting works as simultaneously intimate and grotesque, visceral and elegant, and raw while shielded by aesthetics.
The exhibition opened with a reception on July 10 from 6 to 8 p.m., with Sage scheduled to attend. Anita Rogers Gallery, which describes itself as a New York contemporary art gallery, is presenting the show through August 29 at 494 Greenwich Street, Ground Floor, New York, New York 10013.
