Shirin Neshat Libri

The first monograph to thoroughly document Shirin Neshat's video production, The Last Word provides both a beautiful reminder of her work's color and intensity and a crucial tool for her increasing number of fans and scholars. Neshat, who studied in the United States and has lived in New York for many years, found international success following the explosive release of her images of Muslim women wrapped in chadors with verses by rebel Persian poetesses traced on their faces, hands and feet. She became renowned when her short film Turbulent was awarded the Leone d'Oro at the 1999 Venice Biennale. With her camera persistently focused on the veiled women of the Muslim world, Neshat has continued to make striking and courageous work of rare beauty and intensity, and has presented it to continuing acclaim. She goes fearlessly into the widening gulf between conformism and revolt, submission and compliance, that characterizes the women of the Muslim world, seeking out images from the far sides of the divide that will both narrow the distance and help viewers sound its depths. The Last Word is a necessity for those who would approach, informed, the poetic works and the fierce commitment of an extraordinary artist.

Video art dominates the international art world to such an extent that its heady days on the radical fringes are sometimes overlooked often unknown. Video Art, a Guided Tour is an essential and highly entertaining guide to video art and its history. Elwes, herself a practicing artist and pioneer of early video, traces the story from the weighty Portapak equipment of the '60s and '70s to today's digital technology, from early experiments in 'real time' to the 'new narrative' movement of the '80s. She also examines video's love-hate relationship with television. Artists discussed include, amongst others, Nam June Paik, Nan Hoover, The Duvet Brothers, Dara Birnbaum, Bill Viola, Pipilloti Rist, David Hall, Stuart Marshall, Stan Douglas, Smith & Stewart, Steve McQueen and Sam Taylor-Wood. Elwes brings to life the excitement and political fervour of video art's early days and follows its journey to its current status as the default medium for contemporary art.

In Shirin Neshat's photographs, Arabic calligraphic script is transcribed over black-and-white depictions of the exposed faces, hands, and feet of Iranian women. In her video works, swarms of women in black hijabs ululate; a man in a white dress shirt and black pants sings to an all-male audience; and a lone, nearly invisible woman chants to herself in a darkened house. Though focused on the particulars of the oppression of women in contemporary Iran, Neshat underscores the relevance of her poetic, disturbing, moving ensembles to a broader culture. Presented here are stills from five of Neshat's recent Tooba (2002), in which a female protagonist wanders through the artist's interpretation of the Garden of Eden; The Last Word (2003), a surreal and disturbing look into the mind of an Iranian woman writer; Mahdokht/I> (2004), Neshat's first feature-length film, set in a magical garden and based on Shahrnoush Parsipour's novella, Women without Men and Zarin (2005).

"A collection of quotations from the influential contemporary Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat"--

In the first anthology of its kind, Lila Azam Zanganeh argues that although Iran looms large in the American imagination, it is grossly misunderstood-seen either as the third pillar of Bush's infamous "axis of evil" or as a nation teeming with youths clamoring for revolution.This collection showcases the real scope and complexity of Iran through the work of a stellar group of contributors-including Azar Nafisi and with original art by Marjane Satrapi. Their collective goal is to counter the many existing cultural and political clichés about Iran. Some of the pieces concern feminism, sexuality, or eroticism under the Islamic Republic; others are unorthodox political testimonies or about race and religion. Almost all these contributors have broken artistic and cultural taboos in their work.Journalist Reza Aslan, author of No God But God, explains why Iran is not a theocracy but, rather, a "mullahcracy." Mehrangiz Kar, a lawyer and human rights activist who was jailed in Iran and is currently a fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, argues that the Iranian Revolution actually engendered the birth of feminism in Iran. Journalist Azadeh Moaveni reveals the underground parties and sex culture in Tehran, while Gelareh Asayesh, author of Saffron Sky, writes poignantly on why Iranians are not considered white in America, even though they think they are. Poet and writer Naghmeh Zarbafian expounds on the surreal experience of reading censored books in Iran, while Roya Hakakian, author of Journey from the Land of A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran, recalls the happy days of Iranian Jews. With a sharp, incisive introduction by Lila Azam Zanganeh, this diverse collection will alter what you thought you knew about Iran." My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes aims to corrode fixed ideas and turns cultural and political clichés on their heads . . . Iranians themselves live in a complex and schizophrenic reality, at a surreal crossroads between political Islam and satellite television, massive national oil revenues, and searing social inequalities."--From the Introduction by Lila Azam ZanganehContributors Azar Nafisi, author of the best-selling Reading Lolita in Tehran , Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis , Shirin Neshat, internationally acclaimed visual artist, Abbas Kiarostami, award-winning filmmaker of Taste of Cherry , Shohreh Aghdashloo, Oscar nominee for House of Sand and Fog , Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad

Tracing artists' increasing use of their bodies as subject and actual material of their artworks, this title charts the rise of new forms of expression such as Body Art, Happenings, Performance and Live Art.

„Träume sind universell.“ Die Werke der iranischen Künstlerin, Fotografin und Filmemacherin Shirin Neshat strahlen Selbstbewusstsein und Kraft aus, während sie gleichzeitig Verletzlichkeit und Fragilität zeigen. Zentrale Themen ihres Schaffens sind Identität, Herkunft und Machtstrukturen. Neshats Kunst verbindet und erweitert die reichen Traditionen persischer und westlicher Bildsprachen. Ihr jüngstes Werk, Land of Dreams (2019), vereint persische Kalligrafie mit westlicher Porträtkunst und kombiniert erstmals Fotografie und Video. Die Arbeit vereint dokumentarische und fiktionale Elemente und untersucht den American Dream sowie dessen Schattenseiten. Neshat interviewte die Porträtierten über ihre Träume und integrierte deren Kurzfassungen in persischer Schrift in die Fotografien, ergänzt durch traditionelle bildliche Motive. Durch die Verbindung von Schrift, gestischem Ausdruck und Formatvariation schafft Neshat eine rhythmisch-poetische Dichte, die individuelle Narrative universeller menschlicher Erfahrungen reflektiert. Der ausstellungsbegleitende Katalog beleuchtet die Verbindung von Schrift und Bild und enthält ein Grußwort von Bernhard Maaz sowie Essays von Sussan Babaie und Judith Csiki. Ein Gespräch mit der Künstlerin führte Judith Csiki.