Artist
Shirin Neshat
Via New York, NY, USA
Shirin Neshat is an Iranian-American artist widely acclaimed for her work in film, video and photography, which explores such themes as femininity and gender roles, especially in Iranian culture and politics. Her 2009 film Women Without Men, co-directed with Shoja Azari and adapted from Shahrnush Parsipur's novel of the same name in collaboration with the author, centers on women’s rights in political participation, human rights and equality during Iran’s 1953 coup d’état. A decade earlier, Neshat received widespread recognition for her first video series, a trilogy including Turbulent (1998), Rapture (1999), and Fervor (2000). The artist's earliest works were photographs, such as the "Unveiling" (1993) and "Women of Allah" (1993–97) series, which explore notions of femininity in relation to Islamic fundamentalism and militancy in Iran. Neshat's work has included collaborations with filmmakers, artists and musicians around the world, including Philip Glass and Ghassem Ebrahimian. She has won several prestigious awards including the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2006), the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award (2002) and the First International Prize at the Venice Biennale (1999), and her art has been exhibited in museums around the world.
