Contemporary Iranian Visual Arts

Resumen: Ya restan menos de 340 días para estrenar los nuevos años 20. Sin embargo, no bastan ni cien años para que la mujer oriental deje de resultar un verdadero intríngulis dentro de la perspectiva occidental. La fotógrafa iraní Shadi Ghadirian (Teherán, 1974) otorga su visión sobre la mujer de Oriente Próximo mediante su exposición ‘’Como todos los días’’. Se trata de su primera muestra en el Centro Cultural Internacional Oscar Niemeyer, la cual fue estrenada el 11 de enero y se clausura el 31 de marzo. La exhibición en la ciudad asturiana de Avilés marca un recorrido por las series fotográficas de Ghadirian que prueban la evolución de su trayectoria artística desde la perspectiva de género hasta un punto de vista más experiencial, aunque sin diluir la primera reflexión.

Abstract: She already has less than 340 days for the new 20 years. However, there are not enough years for the Oriental woman. The Iranian photographer Shadi Ghadirian (Tehran, 1974) gives her vision on the woman of the Middle East through her exhibition "Like every day." It is his first show at the International Cultural Center, Oscar Niemeyer, which was released on January 11 and closed on March 31. The exhibition in the Asturian city of Avilés marks a journey through the photographic series of Ghadirian that prove the evolution of his artistic career from the perspective of the genre to the most experiential point of view, although without diluting the first reflection.

This research intends to explore and understand the theoretical concepts of photographic abstraction to examine how a photographic object as a real object changes its meaning to become an abstract image. To achieve this, the signs of the photographic image were first examined from Charles Peirce's semiotic perspective to determine what the abstract image contains. Then, after examining the place of abstraction and its course in the history of photography, a threefold classification of abstract photographic images was proposed, which divided them into three areas: abstraction of the visible, visualization of the invisible, and mentalization of the purely visual. Finally, to answer the research question, three collections of Mehran Mohajer's works were compared with each other, and in them, the passage of the objects "glass" and "scaffolding" as examples of photographic objects from the visible in the collection "Present of Past" to the abstraction Visibility was examined in the collections of "Earth Air" and "Scaffolding" and it was shown that an object in photography, with the help of photographic arrangements, reaches metaphor and reaches the level of abstraction of the first type, and its sign role moves away from the iconic field.

با چطور کتابی مواجه هستیم؟ آنچه در تورق‌های شکاکانه اولیه و خواندن صفحات نخستین تا یک سوم و حتی نیمه کتاب بیش از هرچیز به نظر می‌رسد؛ تلاش نویسنده برای خلق نوعی نوشتارِ تحلیلیِ نوآورانه است، در فرمی کمتر آزموده شده بخصوص در تاریخ هنر یا مطالعات فرهنگی به زبان فارسی. این ساختار، درک دقیق پرسش‌های پیشِ روی نویسنده و گرفتن نبض روایت و استنتاجِ کلیات از جزییات را برای خواننده مشکل می‎کند. او با کتابی مواجه خواهد شد که ضمن ابهام در پرسش‌های نخستین، روایت خود را پیش و پس می‌برد؛ جواب‎ها را به آینده واگذار می‌کند؛ مدام مباحث را شاخه‌شاخه می‎کند و هردم، حاشیه‌ها و جزییات تازه‌ای به آنها می‌افزاید؛ هنوز مساله‎ای حل نشده، پرسش یا روایت جزیی تازه‌ای را آغاز می‎کند و اینها همه در فرم اتفاق می‎افتد. اما با پیش‎روی و فراروی از تعلیق‌های فرمی، در نهایت مجموعه چیزی به دست نمی‎دهد جز جستجوی ادیسه‌وار پژوهشگری علاقمند، که به نظر می‎رسد نه با پرسشی روشن و متمایز، که به قصد دانستنِ بیشتر درباره هنر معاصر ایران جستجویش را آغاز کرده است؛ با ساختاری در فرم که درک پرسش‌ها، جهت‌گیری، چارچوب‌‌ها، منطق روایی و کلیت متن را برای خواننده تازه‌کار دشوار و دست‌نیافتنی می‌کند؛ اما برای خواننده‌ای که پیش‌تر با تاریخ هنر معاصر آشنایی داشته، فاقد نکته یا نظرگاهی نو و–یا آنطور که مصطلح است- اورژینالیته است.

Since the late 1960s, the Iranian-American artist Siah Armajani has primarily worked on the border between sculpture and architecture, creating large-scale public installations such as reading rooms, gardens and bridges. These works commonly evidence a formal concern with relationships between part and whole. This article connects Armajani’s interest in part–whole relations with the writings of Robert Venturi, arguing that Armajani’s practice establishes a critical dialogue with the history of modernist architecture. However, it also demonstrates that Armajani’s practice complicates the proto-postmodern approach of Venturi’s Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966) in several ways. Unlike Venturi, Armajani explicitly politicizes the question of part–whole relations, presenting it not as a purely aesthetic question, but as a formal metaphor for egalitarian social relations. By incorporating certain distinctly modernist techniques into his sculptures, Armajani also shows that, contra Venturi, the question of how to safeguard diversity within a social collective was already a concern among modernists themselves. Finally, Armajani's work further contrasts with Venturi’s writing through its turn to the politics of class struggle. Drawing on the writings of the Marxist theorist Ellen Meiksins Wood, the article argues that Armajani drew attention to the limitations inherent in postmodernism’s ‘politics of diversity’, demonstrating its class blindness and thus its failure to sufficiently challenge contemporary capitalist ideologies.

http://online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/abs/10.3828/sj.2016.25.3.7

ز پیشـترها میشـناختیمش. بـا او
در شـمارههای پیشـین ماهنامـه دربـارۀ
هنـر و گالریهـای اصفهـان گفتوگـو
کـرده بودیـم و از شـخصیت هنـری او خبـر
داشـتیم: هنرمنـد نقـاش و معمـار بـا بیش
از چهل نمایشـگاه انفـرادی و گروهـی. او
یکـی از اصلیتریـن کاندیداهـای مـا بـود
تـا بهعنـوان یکـی از چهرههـای برجسـتۀ
هنـری اصفهـان روی جلد ماهنامه بیاید؛
بنابرایـن وقتـی موضـوع پرونـدۀ کلیمیـان
اصفهـان در تحریریـه مطـرح شـد، همـه
دربـارۀ وجوب حضـور او در پرونده همنظر
بودیـم. بـرای گفتوگـو میهمـان گالـری
کوچـک و همیشـگیاش در خیابـان
اسـتانداری شـدیم. از هـر دری گفتیـم
و شـنیدیم. از محلـۀ جوبـاره گذشـتیم،
روزهـای انقلاب را در خیابـان اسـتانداری
و مسـجد هارونیه مرور کردیم، به کنیسـۀ
کتـرداوود رفتیـم، یـادی از مدرسـه اتحـاد
کردیـم و بـه اقتضـای هنـرش سـری بـه
میـدان نقشجهـان و چهاربـاغ زدیـم و
سـرانجام، خداحافـظ.

Complex, innovative and thought-provoking, Iranian art in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries offers fresh insight into a culture and society that have been much misunderstood in the West and elsewhere. In this new, comprehensive study, featuring 379 full-colour images, Hamid Keshmirshekan considers the dynamics at play for Iranian artists as they confront their cultural past as well as issues of contemporaneity and cultural specificity. He contends that the twentieth century in particular proved a crucial period in the art and culture of Iran; it was then that the legacies of tradition and modernism came under critical review, and artistic concerns revealed themselves as indivisible from ideological ones.

This is the catalogue accompanying the exhibition 'Epic Iran: 5000 Years of Culture' that was shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum 29th May - 12th September 2021. The exhibition spans the period 3200 BC to the present time. Owing to logistical difficulties not all objects decribed in the catalogue could be included in the exhibition, and there were some objects in the exhibition that were added late and could not be included in the catalogue. Ancient objects in the catalogue are described by John Curtis, medieval (Islamic period) objects by Tim Stanley, and comtemporary pieces by Ina Sarikhani Sandmann.

In an interview, the Iranian painter Ahmad Esfandiari (1922–2012) related that he witnessed a particularly difficult time at the beginning of his career, when he did not know what direction his work might take. Slowly he overcame this fear of the unknown and discovered ‘the pleasure of uncharted paths’. But the critics did not see any social value in his work (Mojabi 1998: 155). In his testimony, Ahmad Esfandiari described the tumultuous 1940s, during which an innovative pictorial style called ‘New Painting’ appeared in Iran. Contrary to popular opinion, contemporary Iranian painting did not begin in the 1960s with the Saqqakhaneh group of artists. Its origins can be found in the 1940s. In this article, conceived as a manifesto, I introduce the first generation of New Painting artists and I argue against a canon that has overlooked them in spite of their innovative accomplishments and profound impact.

This dissertation examines Shirin Neshat’s transitional behavior in her works and aims to find the reasons behind this approach. Neshat’s transitional behavior operates both on the subjects and the medium of her works. Being greatly affected by the Iranian Revolution, the politics play a great role in Neshat’s entire oeuvre. But the degree of the political tone in her work changes over time. Neshat initially made overtly political works. However, as time passed by her works first had a more sociopolitical and lyrical approach, and lately they became more poetic and philosophical. In parallel with these modifications, also Neshat’s use of the medium changed gradually. For her initial works Neshat used firstly the medium of photography, later she made a transition into the video works and in her latest works she is making right now feature-length movies.

In this dissertation, I will divide Neshat’s main works chronologically in three phases based on their subjects and the medium used. For each phase I will write one chapter, and in every chapter I will try to find the main characteristic of that particular phase. While I will investigate Neshat’s works, I will consider also her exilic presence and its impact on her works. Furthermore, my research will rely greatly on the artist’s biography. While I will write this dissertation, I will refer mainly to the books and paper works written about Neshat’s works and the interviews made with the artist.

فرشید مثقالی متولد 1322 اصفهان است. او دوران کودکی و نوجوانی را در اصفهان گذراند و دیپلم خود را از دبیرستان سعدی گرفت. در 1339 به تهران مهاجرت کرد و در رشتۀ نقاشی در دانشکده هنرهای زیبای دانشگاه تهران تحصیل کرد. مثقالی در اوایل دهۀ چهل به‌عنوان تصویرگر، همکاری با مجلات را آغاز کرد؛ او طی حدود ده سال فعالیت‌های مختلفی از جمله سرپرستی بخش گرافیک، تصویرگری کتاب کودک و تولید فیلم‌های انیمیشن را با کانون پرورش فکری کودکان و نوجوان برعهده داشت. در 1358 مدت چهار سال در پاریس به کسب تجربه در زمینۀ نقاشی و مجسمه پرداخت. در 1365 به آمریکا رفت و استودیو شخصی‌اش «دسک‌تاپ استودیو» را راه‌اندازی کرد و همچنین کارهای مولتی مدیا و طراحی و ساخت فضاهای ویرچوال ریالیتی را برای فضای اینترنت انجام داد. او در 1376 به ایران بازگشت و تا امروز در تهران به فعالیت مشغول است. طی این سال‌ها جوایز بسیاری از جمله جایزۀ اول بینال بولونیای ایتالیا را به‌خاطر تصویرگری کتاب «ماهی سیاه کوچولو» و جایزۀ «هانس کریستین اندرسن» (1353) معتبرترین جایزۀ جهانی در زمینۀ تصویرسازی کتاب کودک و نوجوان -معروف به نوبل ادبیات کودکان یا نوبل کوچک- را دریافت کرد. در سال‌های اخیر در کنار تدریس، چند کتاب مفید در حوزۀ گرافیک نیز تألیف کرده است. همچنین همکاری در مقام داور یا عضو هیئت ژوری با بینال‌ها و جشنواره‌های هنری مختلف را در کارنامۀ خود دارد. مثقالی را باید به عنوان یکی از پیشروترین هنرمندان عرصۀ طراحی گرافیک، تصویرسازی و هنرهای تصویری ایران دانست که آثار منحصربه‌فردش هم‌چنان جلوتر از زمانۀ ماست.

Much like religious objects produced and consumed elsewhere in the Islamic world, images of Muhammad often are associated with acts of play and worship, their power to cultivate joy and direct religious feelings in various faith communities strengthened in large part by their remove from the commodity situation. As scholars of visual and material culture have highlighted, a product is never merely an object to be acquired and used, stripped of symbolic import and application. On the contrary, it is a thoroughly socialized commodity central to cultural practices of exchange – of sending and receiving social messages – that take place in regimes of value. Within post-revolutionary Iran in particular, images and objects depicting the Prophet Muhammad have been manufactured en masse over the past three decades, catering to official regime ideology and popular devotional practices alike. This study explores how these types of prophetic products serve to visually reinforce and materially reify narratives about the ascendancy of the Shi‘i faith, the legitimacy of Islamic governance, and the value of martyrdom within the larger religious and political landscape of contemporary Iran.

There have been conducted a few numbers of researches with protest-related subjects in visual arts in a span
between the two major unrests, the 1953 Coup and the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This study tries to investigate how the
works of Iranian visual artists demonstrate their reactions to the 1953 Coup and progresses towards modernization that
occurred after the White Revolution of Shāh in 1963. The advent of the protest concept has coincided with the presence
of Modern and Contemporary art in Iran when the country was occupied by allies during the Second World War. The
1953 Coup was a significant protest event that motivated some of the artists to react against the monarchy’s intention.
Although, poets, authors, journalists, and writers of plays were pioneer to combat dictatorship, the greatest modernist
artists of that time, impressed by the events after the 1953 Coup, just used their art as rebellious manifest against the
governors.
Keywords: Iranian Visual Artists, Pahlavi, Political Freedom, Persian Protest Literature, the Shāh.

Ce chapitre montre comment l’émergence de nouveaux espaces de sociabilité et de consommation s’articule autour de l’autonomisation de certaines pratiques sociales, comme celle du voyage, ou à une implication croissante dans des pratiques artistiques. Son analyse s’inscrit dans une sociologie des aspirations, qui transcende des milieux sociaux variés et qui se traduit par la formation ou le renforcement de nouveaux réseaux économiques et de développement d’espaces de consommation aux échelles urbaine, nationale et transnationale. La consommation du café à Téhéran, les conditions de son importation ainsi que la professionnalisation du milieu viennent illustrer les modalités de circulation des modèles de valorisation et de diffusion de certains modes de vie dans l’Iran contemporain.
https://books.openedition.org/diacritiques/6071?lang=en

Iranian painting, without merely imitating the nature, has been trying to create ideal spaces for a long time. These spaces were exactly what the artist had in mind. Thus, except the periods influenced by Western traditions, no signs of naturalism can be found in Iranian painting. Instead, from ancient times, stylization, symbolism and decoration were common in the visual art of this land. The space derived from the mind of the artist is the fixed and unchangeable element of painting evolution which cannot be neglected in studies. This space is formed, processed and finally objected on the canvas. Space is the result of the relationship between the audience and the motif. It is a vehicle for conveying the inner structure of the motif which takes the viewer to a ride on the mental world of the subject, the painter. Whenever the space of the motif captures the audience and makes him synchronized with it, one can conclude it has played its role well and then this sweep will continually be repeated. A similar attitude toward the space has been differently demonstrated in poetry. A poem written by George Trakl, which describes a winter evening, uses concrete images that we all know them in our routine world. However, these images also imply on more general structures as the main title of the poem holds everything in this natural context. The importance of this research can be tracked in modern
notions and understanding of different architectural and painting spaces in a given period. This research is done through examining the common deepest conceptual layer of these two arts; that is the relationship between the spaces of the two, the goal of the research can be achieved. This paper aims to shed light on the fact that in Iran the conceptual relationship between painting and architecture has been established and in the contemporary era, these two arts which were fed by one source transferred the same spatial concepts. Painting and architecture were always been together and, with exclusive features, helped each other out on the foundations and forms. Sometimes, painting becomes the initial idea of architecture and vice versa. Thus, spatial perception of the artist has helped to create space in a different way. The missing ring in their only irreducible common spaces is a space created in objective architecture, two-dimensional space, three-dimensional space, and virtual painting. This article investigates the representation of traditional architecture space in Iranian contemporary painting and architecture which can be seen in Mirmiran and Kalantari paintings. Through comparing the relationship of the concept of space between painting and architecture in the contemporary era, this paper intends to study the conceptual links between the two arts. The aim of the research is to achieve a common understanding of the painter and architect of Iranian traditional architectural space. Therefore, two artists who focused on the representation and interpretation of traditional architecture in their works and are considered as pioneers in this area are selected. To this  end, three main categories have been examined:
• The examination of the representation of traditional architecture and its concept in the paintings of Parviz Kalantari
• The examination of the representation of traditional architecture and its concept in the paintings of Seyed Hadi Mirmiran
• The examination of “the relationship and the link of painting and architecture spaces” in the works of these two contemporary artist
This research utilized a perceptual and philosophical approach to study the space, in which the term “space” is used as the equivalent of “quality”, “expression” or “space impact”. The paper is based on a comparative study and a formal and iconographic, commentary analysis. In terms of artworks, the iconographic approach focuses on the meaning of the subject. It can be said that iconographic research focuses on content rather than form. The method has been arranged so that the influential factors on the formation of the space in selected paintings and architectures is examined and analyzed. Finally, the common features of Iranian traditional spaces representation will be expressed in the works of the mentioned artists. Comparative analysis of spaces in other Iranian arts in order to gain a better understanding and providing a more accurate picture of space perception in contemporary Iranian art is suggested for future research.
نقاشی و معماری همیشه در کنار هم بوده اند و با ویژگی های انحصاری در مبانی و صور به دیگری کمک کرد هاند.گاهی نقاشی ایده اولیه معماری بوده و گاهی معماری موضوع نقاشی شده است. بنابراین درک فضایی از هر کدام، از زاویه دید هنرمند، به گونه ای مددرسان خلق فضا به شکلی متفاوت است.حلقه ای گمشده که در تنها عنصر غیر قابل حذف آن ها یعنی فضا مشترکند، فضایی که در نقاشی دو بعدی و سه بعدی، مجازی و در معماری عینی آفریده می شود. این مقاله جستاری پیرامون بازنمایی فضای معماری سنتی در نقاشی و معماری معاصر ایران است که در آثار نقاشی کلانتری و میرمیران دیده شده است. این نوشتار نظر دارد با مقایسه رابطه مفهوم فضا در نقاشی و معماری در دوران معاصر به بررسی پیوندهای مفهومی میان این دو هنر بپردازد. هدف از انجام پژوهش نیز دستیابی به درک مشترکی از هنرمند نقاش و معمار از فضای معماری سنتی ایران است. برای این منظور دو هنرمند که در آثارشان به بازنمایی و برداشت خود از فضای معماری سنتی پرداخته اند و در این زمینه پیشرو و مطرح هستند انتخاب شد هاند و بدین منظور سه مقوله اصلی مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است.
گام نخست: بررسی بازنمایی فضای معماری سنتی و مفهوم آن در آثار نقاشی پرویز کلانتری؛
گام دوم: بررسی بازنمود فضای معماری سنتی ومفهوم آن در آثار معماری سیدهادی میرمیران؛
گام سوم: بررسی "رابطه و پیوند فضای نقاشی و معماری" در این دو هنرمند معاصر.
روش پژوهش، براساس مطالعه تطبیقی، تحلیل تفسیری وبا تحلیلی شکل گرایانه و شمای لنگارانه انجام شده است. روش کار به گونه ای تنظیم شده که عوامل مؤثر بر شکل گیری فضا در نقاشی ها و معماری های منتخب تحت بررسی و تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفته و آثار نقاشی با روش های مذکور مورد ارزیابی واقع شده است. در نهایت ویژگی های مشترک بازنمایی
فضاهای سنتی ایران در آثار دو هنرمند بیان شده است.

This paper will delve into the history of art in Iran in order to analyze the authenticity of artistic development from early times. I will argue that Iranian Modern Art sprang from a modernity unique to Iran and that this art was an innovative manifestation of Iranian history, culture, and values.

In Iran surrealism is spoken of by artists and critics as a living element in art, long after its popularity in Europe and North America has waned. This article explores key features of the work of one of the most prolific contemporary Iranian artists, Ali-Akbar Sadeghi. While Sadeghi says that he thinks of himself as a “surrealist,” his work is distinguished from many self-professed surrealists in Iran: whereas the latter are concerned with representing metaphysical, even mystical, meanings, Sadeghi sees his art as a kind of intellectual exercise, presenting a dramatic theater in which the viewer engages in epistemological interrogation. Though Sadeghi's paintings are full of apparent references to surrealist themes and tropes from the past, here it is argued that his work is not so much a storehouse of surrealist content as a series of puzzles for the viewer to solve.

Atelier de réflexions à La Colonie à Paris le 14 novembre 2017 -
Avec Morad Montazami, Seloua Luste Boulbina, Nadine Bilong, Joan Grandjean, Anahi Alviso-Marino, Tarek Lakhrissi, Marie-Hélène Leblanc, Parand Danesh.


Depuis le début du 21e siècle, le monde connaît une multiplication inquiétante des conflits. Pensons notamment à la guerre contre le terrorisme islamique de George W. Bush en 2001, et à la guerre d’Irak qui s’en est suivi; à la guerre du Kivu en RD du Congo (2004-); aux contestations du printemps arabe déclenchées en 2010, qui ont mené à des renversements de régime en Tunisie, en Égypte, en Libye et aux guerres toujours en cours en Syrie (2011- ) et au Yémen (2014- )...

مرتضی ممیز طراح گرافیک ایرانی (شهریور 1315 - آذر 1384) است. او که از نوجوانی به نقاشی و طراحی علاقه‌مند بود در جوانی در زمینۀ کاریکاتور تجاربی کسب کرد. پس از ورود به دانشکدۀ هنرهای زیبای دانشگاه تهران نقاشی را آموخت و سپس در فرانسه تحصیلات خود را تکمیل کرد. او علاوه بر کار حرفه‌ای طراحی گرافیک، نقاشی و عکاسی هم انجام می‌داد و طراحی صحنه و نورپردازی تئاتر را نیز تجربه کرد. ممیز در سال ۱۳۴۹ رشتۀ گرافیک را در دانشکده هنرهای زیبا دانشگاه تهران بنیاد گذاشت و سال 1355 سندیکای گرافیست‌های ایران را تأسیس کرد؛ و اولین ایرانی بود که به عضویت «انجمن بین‌المللی طراحان گرافیک» (AGI) درآمد. اولین دوسالانۀ (بینال) گرافیک ایران به همت او راه‌اندازی شد. در کسوت استادی چندین نسل از طراحان‌گرافیک‌ ایران را پرورش داد. او در کنار همۀ این کارها، عامل اصلی شناساندن، ایجاد اعتبار، وجاهت و تثبیت موقعیت گرافیک ایران در عرصۀ بین‌المللی شد و به حق لقب پدر هنر گرافیک معاصر ایران را به خاطر تلاش‌ها، بدعت‌ها و وجه‌ای که به گرافیک ایران را به او داده‌اند.

Parya Vatankhah is an Iranian visual artist, living and working for several years in Paris. Her artistic practice is multidisciplinary and involves painting, photography, video, performance and installation. She taught at the University of Culture and Art in Tehran and Rasht for six years, before leaving Iran for France in 2009. She is interested in the contradictions of human thought and the existence of different realities for each of us in the face of a given situation, influenced by our past and by our private and social lives. The subjects of her work are nourished by her intimate and social experiments such as the Islamic revolution in Iran and its consequences on human rights violations and gender inequality, war, economic problems and also the experience of her immigration. Her works address the complexity of building oneself and knowing one's own identity when the violence and suffering caused by political conflicts reach the intimate life. The body is omnipresent in her work, both subject and object, as to become since her arrival in France, a powerful medium to convey her stronger and more provocative messages. Her art is exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions, video art and contemporary art festivals, and at university conferences such as the Casablanca International Festival, Les instants vidéo de Marseille, London Feminist Film Festival, RMN-Grand Palais in Paris, Malmö̈ art center in Konsthall, Sweden and the Arad Art Museum in Romania. She is currently preparing a thesis in Aesthetics, Science and Technology of the Arts on the theme of the representation of the body in engaged and political art. She also teaches process project courses about the representation of the body in contemporary art at the Department of Fine Arts of the University of Paris 8.

Parya Vatankhah est une artiste plasticienne, commissaire d'exposition, chercheuse en art, franco-iranienne, vivant et travaillant depuis plusieurs années à Paris. Sa pratique artistique est pluridisciplinaire et fait appel à la peinture, la photographie, la vidéo, la performance et l'installation. Elle s'intéresse aux contradictions de la pensée humaine, à l'existence des différentes réalités pour chacun d'entre nous face à une situation donnée influencée par notre passé et par notre vie privée et sociale. Les sujets de son travail se nourrissent de ses épreuves intimes et sociales comme la révolution islamique en Iran et ses conséquences sur les violations des droits de l'Homme et l'inégalité femme/ homme, la guerre, les problèmes économiques jusqu'à l'expérience de son immigration. Ses oeuvres abordent la complexité à se construire et à connaître sa propre identité quand la violence et la souffrance causées par les conflits politiques atteignent l'intime. Le corps est omniprésent dans son travail, à la fois sujet et objet, pour devenir depuis son arrivée en France, un médium puissant pour passer ses messages plus forts et plus provocateurs. Son art est exposé à l'international dans le cadre d'expositions individuelles et collectives, de festivals d'art vidéo et d'art contemporain, et à l'occasion de colloques universitaires comme le festival international de Casablanca (FIAV), Les instants vidéo de Marseille, le London Feminist Film Festival,le RMN-Grand Palais à Paris, le centre d'art Malmö̈ à Konsthall en Suède et le musée d'art d'Arad, Roumanie. Elle a enseigné à l'Université La Culture et l'Art de Téhéran et Rasht pendant les six années qui ont précédées son départ de l'Iran vers la France en 2009. Elle prépare actuellement une thèse en Esthétique, Sciences et Technologies des Arts, sur le thème de la représentation du corps dans l'art engagé. Elle assure également des cours de projet/ processus sur la représentation de corps en art contemporain, au département d'Arts plastiques de l'université Paris 8.

A veinte años de la publicación de la entrevista que le hiciera Arthur C. Danto a la artista Shirin Neshat en la revista BOMB , resulta oportuno preguntarse por el papel que esta desempeñó para la comprensión de su propuesta artística, desde determinados ángulos y paradigmas interpretativos. Dicha entrevista puede asumirse como un punto climático en el proceso de legitimación, por parte de la crítica de arte estadounidense, de la creadora de origen iraní; no exento de contradicciones y esencialismos como aquí pretendo demostrar: uno de los pensadores del arte más prominentes de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, cerraba el siglo situando a Neshat en la pléyade de los grandes artistas contemporáneos.