Artist Quote: “I'm really interested in social justice, and if an artist has a certain power of being heard and voicing something important, it's right to do it. It could still be done in such a way that it's not aggressive. I'm trying to find that form.” Achievements: In 1999, she won the 48th Venice Biennial prize for her film Turbulent, which contrasts a man singing in front of an all-male audience, with a woman singing to an empty concert hall. The same year, The Huffington Post named her the artist of the decade. Her work sells for between $25,000 and $100,000. | About the Artist: Neshat left Iran to study art in Los Angeles in 1974, just prior to the Iran Islamic Revolution; she did not return until 1990. At that time, Neshat began to photograph herself wearing the chador, or veil. In 1983, Islamic law dictated the wearing of chador for women. Much of Neshat’s work examines the physical, emotional, and cultural implications of veiled women in Iran. Her work has never been shown in Iran. After receiving a Bachelors in Art degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1983, Neshat moved to New York where she still lives. In the photographs, her face, feet, and hands (the only parts of the body allowed to be shown by Islamic law) are covered in Iranian poetry which Neshat hand draws on the photographs. |
Sources:
https://nmwa.org/art/artists/shirin-neshat/
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/shirin-neshat
https://nmwa.org/art/artists/shirin-neshat/
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/shirin-neshat