main.

Speechless, 1996,RC print (photo taken by Larry Barns)

words by: tamara nouri
all images © shirin neshat, courtesy gladstone gallery, new york

shirin neshat
since the islamic revolution in iran, iranian photographer
and video installation artist, shirin neshat, has struggled
to understand and express the schism between the
muslim and judeo-christian world.

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,1997 )Whispers (Women of Allah series
)RC print & ink (photo taken by Larry Barns
born in iran in 1957, neshat left
home aged 17 to study art at the
university of california, berkeley.
years later, on a return visit to iran
(the first of several visits) neshat was
shocked to see the changes that
had taken place there. the people
themselves had changed under the
islamic regime, without appearing
to notice the change. the new extt
tremist islamic ideologies that were
now instilled into iranian society
seemed warped and foreign to her.
neshat’s visit to iran soon inspired
her to create works that would
encourage viewers to consider the
conflicting traditions and modernitt
ties of both the east and the west.
between 1993 and 1997 neshat
produced the black and white
photographic series: women of
allah; in 1999, her interest in film in
particular had become more widely
known when turbulent won the
international prize at the venice
biennale; and in 2000 an exhibition
of photographic works and video
installations at london’s serpentine
gallery (which included the women
of allah series) gained her even
more attention.
in shirin neshat’s photo series,
women of allah, the veil is present
throughout – an important symbol
in all her works during this period. to
neshat, the veil symbolises a boundat
ary, one that “separates a woman
from the inside and the outside,
the private and public, the invisible
and the visible.” neshat reminds us
that the woman’s body is extremely
controversial in culture – it always
suggests individuality, sexuality
and sin. neshat believes that: “the
study of women brings with it the
study of culture; woman embodies
more than man: women embody
the value system of their society.”
her images engage in “universal
dialogues while keeping within the
specificity of the islamic culture.”
neshat overlays the feminine words
of women poets – some revolutionat
ary, some romantic – onto her photo
images, and delicately inscribes
them onto the skin of the women
depicted in the photographs,
adding a voice to these images.
the poetry presents the devotion,
beliefs, love and violence which
united the iranian people under the
circumstances in which they found
themselves. circumstances in which
they found themselves.
essentially, the poetry she uses
is a rebellion against the gender
politics that rule the middle east.
the presence of a gun in some if the
images suggests a militant edge
and shows neshat taking martyrdt
dom as the subject of the revolution
that occupied cultural life in iran.
in her video installations, neshat
uses background scenes of strikit
ing contrasts: the desert and the
sea; the architecture of east and
west. the women in the video are
shrouded head to toe in black and
convey their suffering through
gestures of defiance. neshat
expresses what would traditionally
be considered a sin – the breaking
of societal rules concerning men’s
power and dominance over women.
zarin, the title of neshat’s latest exhibt
bition at the gladstone gallery, new
york, is a film installation that demot
onstrates her furthered interest in
the cinematic convention. the ten-
minute film constitutes a sequence
of what is to become a five-part featt
ture film entitled “women without
men” – neshat’s first major narrative
project. in the film, neshat recreates
the daily routine and imaginings
of zarin, a prostitute in an iranian
brothel (neshat in fact used the
exotic and orientalist setting of mort
rocco, a setting immediately familiar
to the western eye) and conveys a
different world from her past works.
neshat follows her protagonist (the
camera always at eye level) with
the agitated fluidity of a thriller. the
women in the film seem particularly
vulnerable, and in the brothel color
and lethargy frames the protagont
nist’s psychological breakdown.
the subjects of shirin neshat’s works
are culturally specific, but neshat
succeeds in conveying a universal
language that also delivers a revealit
ing insight into western modes of
perception. in her own words: “for
me it is vital to portray a theme
from within in order to create
something that is pure and not to
succumb to the pressure of drawing
parallels between two cultures.”
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Fervor, 2000.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns Fervor, 2000.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns

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Turbulent, 1998.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns Turbulent, 1998.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns

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Zarin, 2005.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns Zarin, 2005.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns

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Zarin, 2005.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns Zarin, 2005.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns

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Fervor, 2000.Production Still. Photo by: Larry Barns
biography:
born 1957 in iran, shirin neshat lives and works in new york;
her photographs and videos have been included in many major
international exhibitions, including:
documenta 11, kassel, germany
moving pictures, solomon r. guggenheim museum of art, new york 2002
arte contemporaneo internacional, museo de arte moderno, mexico city 2001
lyon biennial, lyon, france 2000
whitney biennial, whitney museum of american art, new york 2000
carnegie international, carnegie museum of art, pittsburgh, pa 1999
the venice biennale, venice, italy 1999
trade routes: history and geography: 2nd johannesburg biennale 1997.

solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at:

castello di rivoli, turin, italy 2002
irish museum of art, dublin, ireland 2001
barbara gladstone gallery, new york 2001
serpentine gallery, london 2000
dallas museum of art, dallas 2000
wexner center, columbus, ohio 2000
the art institute of chicago, chicago 1999.
in 1996 neshat was awarded a grant from the louis comfort tiffany foundation.