Three essential Iranian women artists
In honour of the recent wave of protests, we spotlight some of the best Iranian protest art...
December 16, 2022
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
This week, on the 14th of December, we mark 3 months since the murder of Mahsa Amini. As many of you might know, Mahsa Amini was a young Iranian woman, which was brutally beaten and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its "morality police" after being arrested for “improper hijab”. Her tragic murder sparked a wave of long, intensive, and brave protests led by young Iranian women, demanding the abolition of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its oppressive systemic laws and institutions, including the 'morality police'. For some context, the 'morality police' is (or was) an institution, legitimated and funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, founded in the 1970s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Its preponderant role is to police and surveil women and their freedom by applying a strike dress code and establishing a patriarchal ‘public order’ where women are treated as second-class citizens, subject to violent and discriminatory tactics and roles.
A brave and radical spirit was evident not only in the streets of Iran during the protests but also in the work and practice of Iranian artists. In this article, we present the work of three Iranian female artists who capture the spirit of this country's women.
Arghavan Khosravi ارغوان خسروی
Arghavan Khosravi is an Iranian-born American visual artist, whose work and practice explore the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, and the traditions of European Renaissance. She juxtaposes freedom and restraint in her artwork; they often depict colourful and whimsical gardens and women, concealed behind walls, that seem dreamlike, with something disturbing happening; such as someone limiting or obstructing the female subject's freedom of movement. The women's figures are characterised by their rich hair, a symbol of rebellion again this oppressive system, concealed behind walls, flowers or hands in what the artist describes as a struggle for autonomy As she wrote in October on her Instagram about painting female hair, 'These days when I'm painting hair, I'm filled with anger and hope. More than ever,', before concluding the post with the hashtag #MahsaAmini.
Shirin Aliabadi شیرین علیآبادی
Shirin Aliabadi was born in 1973, and died in 2018. She studied in Paris, and possessed the cynicism and quizzical eye of an expat returning home to observe the changes in her native country. In her practice, Aliabadi combined photographs and drawings to explore the competing effects of traditional values, religious restrictions, and globalised western culture on young urban Iranian women. In her photographic series Girls in Cars (2005), she said, 'I was stuck in traffic one weekend in a pretty posh part of Tehran. We were surrounded by beautiful girls made up to go to a party or just cruising in their cars, and I thought then that this image of women chained by tradition and the hijab is not even close to reality here. They all had music on and were chatting to each other between the cars and making eyes and conversation with boys in other vehicles. Although respectful of the laws, they were having fun.’
Tala Madani طلا مدنی
Tala Madani was born in Tehran, Iran, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her transgressive figurative paintings challenge gender stereotypes and Western notions of family, childhood, and art history. Utilising slapstick humour, juxtaposed with the serious themes, the male figures on Madani's canvases are often balding, naked, and childlike, while their mothers are created from feces, their genitals are oversized, and their bodies are constantly expelled. She often paints in dark, gestural, and expressionistic styles, echoing perhaps the bravado of male abstract painters of the mid–20th century.
