This spring, several exhibitions celebrate the talent and creativity of Iranian artists. The Fine Arts Gallery of CSU Los Angeles recently opened “Contemporary Iranian Photography,” on view through May 7. This exhibit is of paramount importance as during the last decade, Iranian photographers have become a significant part of the contemporary art scene. In fact, Iranian photography, far more than Iranian painting or sculpture, deals with such sensitive issues as identity, gender, history, and the role of language in constructing truth and reality. This exhibit is curated by Abbas Daneshvari, Simin Dehghani, and Marjan Asgari.
From February 10 – May 8, DePauw University’s Richard E. Peeler Art Center presents “Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran.” Featuring 58 works of photography and video installations by 20 of Iran’s most celebrated photographers, this exhibition gathers personal perspectives of contemporary Iran filtered through individual sensibilities, while simultaneously addressing public concerns. “Persian Visions” was developed by Hamid Severi for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran and Gary Hallman of the Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota.
“Displacements: The Craft Practices of Golnar Adili and Samira Yamin” at the Craft & Folk Art Museum of Los Angeles is on view through April 27. Taking the repetitive craft practices of paper-cutting and hand-stitching beyond traditional parameters, these two Iranian-American artists utilize old family photographs and archives to produce mixed media and multimedia works that are steeped in diasporic loss and longing.
Other noteworthy exhibitions that have closed recently include “Recalling The Future: post revolutionary Iranian art” (The Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London); Parastou Forouhar’s “Kiss Me” (Rose Issa Project, London); and “Persepolis: Word & Image” (The William Benton Museum of Art, Connecticut).