FEATURES ARCHIVE

Shirin Neshat is a prolific Persian artist who has worked in a variety of mediums including film and photography. Neshat was born in Iran but moved to the United States after high school; however, the 1979 Iranian Revolution prevented her from returning to her native country. Art became a tool for examining her sense of cultural and geographic displacement. Among the many themes with which she imbues her artwork are those of Islamic religion and culture, as well as displaced female identity.

This massive portrait, titled Faezeh + Amir Khan, is an edition of five from the artist’s most recent body of work. It represents the culmination of Neshat’s artistic exploration on the themes of gender and religion, and also incorporates her interest in Iranian female authors from whom she draws much inspiration. The handwritten Arabic words overlaying the image are from Shahrnush Parsipur’s novel, Women Without Men, which challenges the traditional gender relationships in the author’s native Iran. In this cinematic work, Neshat lays out the metaphorical dualities of the male/female relationship, alongside those of Eastern/Western cultures. The universal appeal of Neshat’s investigation of these challenging themes has given her an international following as one of the most widely renowned contemporary photographers today.