Renowned Iranian American visual artist Shirin Neshat has opened a new retrospective at Qatar’s Arab Museum of Modern Art (Mathaf).
New and existing works by the artist span the entire ground floor of the Mathaf, in an exhibition titled “Afterwards” that will be open through Feb. 15, 2015.
The 57-year-old award-winning artist has held exhibitions across the world, including in Mexico, the US, Germany and Sweden, but this is her first such display in the Middle East.
Pieces includes the major photographic series The Book of Kings (2012) and several video installations, such as OverRuled (2012) and Turbulent (1998), which comment on various historical, cultural and political realities the artist has focused on for the past 30 years.
In a statement, Neshat explained:
“The Book of Kings is a conceptual and artistic approach to narrating history, questioning the notion of ‘heroism,’ and capturing the emotional and human realities behind the faces of those who stand in the intersection of love, devotion and sacrifice, yet violence, atrocity, and death.”
Neshat’s “Women of Allah” series, which includes portraits of women entirely overlaid by Persian calligraphy, will also be on display, as are several pieces related to the Iranian revolution.
The exhibition is the second one opened by Mathaf this month. On Nov. 1, a new permanent collection of works from Qatar and aross the MENA region went on display.
Thoughts?
