Shirin Neshat was bron in 1957 in Qazvin, Iran. She is a visual artist living in New York City and is mostly known or her work in film and photography. Her work centers around the differences between Islam and the West, femininity and masculinity, public life and private life, and bridging the spaces between subjects. Her work has been widely recognized and her most famous work is probably her series “Unveiling” and “Women of Allah”. Both series work with the idea of femininity in the Islam fundamentals. Her photos of these women with scripture from sacred book are truly fascinating. The first time I actually saw her work was in the show, “The L Word”. Bette Porter (played by Jennifer Beals who is at the beginning of these artists of inspiration) is an art curator and is looking at her work and talking about the meticulousness of the painting of words over these women’s faces and the beauty surrounding the idea and the execution. I couldn't agree more with what all was said. Neshat’s work is moving and powerful and had such a huge impact in the world of bringing together politics and art. Shirin Neshat’s work is so important to me because it is some of the first work I have seen that so beautifully mixes politics with artistry. It is my goal to produce art at some point that is thought provoking and can make people feel something; and more importantly, DO something. That is exactly what Neshat has done.
All work courteous of Shirin Neshat.