Calendar

Join us for the next Artist Talk with Arghavan Khosravi in our Visiting Artist Series, Catalyst. Khosravi’s studio practice mobilizes visual art as a vehicle for cultural transformation. She investigate the aesthetics of ancient Persian miniature paintings, which were originally used to illustrate folkloric texts. Typically, the only women they portray have a subservient or secondary role, lacking agency and social significance. Khosravi’s paintings take a conscious look at how the value system transmitted by that iconography continues to shape Iranian gender politics today. The most noticeable visual characteristic of Khosravi’s paintings is their multi-dimensionality. Constructed from a complex scaffolding of cut and painted wooden panels, they offer a constantly shifting perceptual experience. Visual motifs such as black plumes, rockets, and cages reference corrupted economic and political systems, while female bodies are often depicted as being shackled or with their mouths sewn shut.

Catalyst is made possible with the support of Mike and Josette Taheri.