I went to the exhibition titled “Sherin Neshat : Facing History” with my daughter Kate and so enjoyed to see art that speaks to politics .
Shirin Neshat was born in Iran, and moved to the US. The politics of Iran and the Muslim world shape her work.
I especially enjoyed a film of hers that comments on Iran’s law declaring it illegal for women to sing in public. One screen shows a man singing and an oppositely placed screen shows a women’s quiet shape. Behind him, an audience of men watch. Behind her, the audience is empty. The two screens play off each other, especially when the women begins to chant.
A show not to miss! (Check out her wiki page here.)
From the Hirshorn website..
May 18 to September 20, 2015 (Second Level)
In her mesmerizing films and photographs, Shirin Neshat (Iranian-American, b. Qazvin, 1957) examines the nuances of power and identity in the Islamic world—particularly in her native country of Iran, where she lived until 1975. Shirin Neshat: Facing History presents an array of Neshat’s most compelling works, illuminating the points at which cultural and political events have impacted her artistic practice. Included are the “Women of Allah” photographs that catapulted the artist to international acclaim in the 1990s; lyrical video installations, which immerse the viewer in imagery and sound; and two monumental series of photographs, The Book of Kings, 2012, and Our House Is on Fire, 2013, created in the wake of the Green Movement and the Arab Spring. Commenting on freedom and loss, Neshat’s deeply humanistic art is at once personal, political, and allegorical.