Manuel Mandujano: Shirin Neshat

Of all of the artists that we have discussed thus far, I think that Shirin Neshat is one of the most interesting to me. Shirin Neshat’s art can be seen as both inspirational and controversial. Neshat attempts to give the world a glimpse of what it has been blind to for a very long time. Neshat, through either her photographic art or video art, depicts the world of Muslim women in Iran. When I say depicts I not only mean what the women look like, but how they are perceived among their fellow Iranians and where they stand on the political ladder.

Many of Neshat’s photos are of Islamic women’s faces, with or without a veil, and Arabic written either on their face or somewhere within the picture. Perhaps the most interesting of Neshat’s pieces, to me, is of a woman whose lower face is covered with a veil covering the lower part of her face and red Arabic writing covering the rest of it. The woman’s face and eyes are beautiful and give the viewers an amazing image to marvel at. However, the red writing and darkness surrounding the woman’s face give the photo an entirely different feel: something mysterious and perhaps even dangerous. I feel that in this photo Neshat is showing the world how beautiful and mysterious the Islamic culture can be. Likewise, how dangerous for women it can be as well.

Shirin Neshat is a very interesting artist and her pieces of art are very intriguing and thought provoking. While her art is very well accepted in America, much of it has been ban from sale in Iran. However, Neshat says that she heard her work was being circulated throughout the country through piracy, which makes her happy to hear.