My House is on Fire, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 120 x 152.5 cm
Shirin Neshat’s large photo series "The Book of Kings" is inspired by the 60,000-verse poem "Shahnameh" (The Book of Kings) from the eleventh century by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, today still the great narrative of Persian history up to the Islamic conquest of Persia in the seventh century.
Shirin Neshat relates this ancient book to the Arab Spring and to the Iranian Green Movement, which brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets all over Iran in June 2009 in protest against the regime.
"The Book of Kings" consists of three series of large black-and-white portraits: "Masses", "Patriots" and "Villains". Each photograph is carefully inscribed with handwritten poems in Farsi from present-day Iranian poets. "Masses" is portraits of the many ordinary citizens who demonstrated in the streets. The bodies in "Villains" are decorated with the old narrative pictures from the "Shahnameh" of soldiers on horseback. The red colour recurs throughout as a symbol of the blood of the martyrs. The "Patriots" stare earnestly and directly into the camera with their hands on their hearts. Gazing straight ahead. But who in fact are the patriots? Are they those who are trying to change the system, or those who support the present regime?
Neshat offers no answer to who will be the martyrs, patriots or villains for posterity. She captures their expressionless faces, as if there is still a history to be written. They look at us and we at them, and in this way Neshat combines complex questions of history, politics and philosophy in a confrontational, poetic visual language.
Shirin Neshat was born in 1957 in Iran. She has lived in exile in New York since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. Because of her art, Shirin Neshat is "persona non grata" in Iran.
Amir, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 251.5 x 126 cm
Bahram, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 251.5 x 126 cm
Sherief, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 251.5 x 126 cm
Ibrahim, , 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Ramin, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Roja, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Kouross, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Nida, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Rahul, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Sara Khaki, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Muhammed, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Ahmed, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
Salah, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 152 x 114 cm
About Shirin Neshat
Born in Qazvin, Iran, in 1957, Shirin Neshat moved to the US in 1974, where she studied art. The historic rupture of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran changed her life and creative practice. She gained international prominence in 1995 with her iconic series of black and white, calligraphy-overlaid photographs, Women of Allah. She broke new ground winning the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale (1999) for her video installation, Turbulent, and the Silver Lion at the International Venice Film Festival (2009) for directing Women Without Men. Solo exhibitions include shows at the Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Serpentine Gallery, London; Neshat has participated in the New Orleans Biennial (2008), Documenta XI, Whitney Biennial (2000), and the Venice Biennale (1999). She lives and works in New York City.
Shahram, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Sara Nafisi, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Anwar, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Roja, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Nickzad, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Sara Khaki, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Ibrahim, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Leah, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Kouross, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Najla, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Ahmed, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Golshid, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Panteha, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Navid, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Taraneh, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Sheida Jafari, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Farokh, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Sara Zanganeh, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Ramin, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Lili, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Rahul, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Ghada, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Nasri, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Mana, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Ali Sharma, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Negin, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Morad, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Sara Jafari, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Zakaria, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Majran, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Mosaeb, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Fahimeh, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Omer, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Mariam, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Ali, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Shirin, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Davood, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Nazy, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Salah, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Ava, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Muhammed, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Saman, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Roozbeh, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Nida, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Sheida Dayani, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 102 x 76 cm
Divine Rebellion, 2012, Ink on LE silver gelatin print, 157.5 x 124.5 cm
Group Exhibition
Every Day Matters