by amateo
Modern Iranian Art
Revolutionary Posters
Raised fists, c. 1979
Look:
In this powerfully evocative poster we see the silhouettes of what appear to be several protestors with their fists raised creating a long black outline set to a bright red background. Inside of the silhouette and in accordance to it’s shape, are the words “There is no God but God” transcribed in Arabic with a bold white font. At first glance this poster seems almost to have designed to peak my interest as I am fascinated by street art both in it’s ability to create powerful images rooted in simplicity and style, as well as it’s implementation of words to add context and a message to the chosen aesthetic, both of which are elements this poster displays to great affect.
Look Again:
Further inspection of the image and a deeper understanding of it’s historical context add significance to some of the subtler choices made by the artist. For instance, this being a poster that is created in order to spur the people into some type of action, it would make sense that the people be portrayed not as individuals but rather as a unit brought together by a common message. A common message that calls for the defense of a belief that this image suggests is a part of the people, as the affirmation of their faith is in this poster transcribed onto the people joining them with their cause. The powerful choice of coloring, what with the sharp contrast, add to the aesthetic as well as the political effect, as these could be considered “violent” colors.
December 17th, 2013
by mmasub95
I was very disappointed to have to view these pieces of artwork online as oppose to having viewed them firsthand. The further I looked into these vibrant pieces, the more upset I became that I could not actually attend the tour and witness them in person. Both Modern Iranian Art and Radical Presence had pieces that were very exquisite as well as eye opening. I especially enjoyed looking through the different pieces in Radical Presence because they were all commenting on the larger social issue of racism. One of the most raw and interesting pieces I thought was Pretending to be Rock by Sherman Fleming. When I watched the video portraying Fleming and the woman hanging in front of him, I was in awe. Questions like “how could this be art?” started swirling around in my head but our in class conversation later that day helped me to realize just how profound this piece of work was.
Fleming was trying to convey the torture and agony of slaves that found themselves going through this type of torture on a daily basis. Fleming’s female collaborator was used to represent the superiority of whites during the time of racism. Although this display of self harm may seem very grotesque at first glance, it has so much meaning that it evolved into one of my favorite works in Radical Presence.
In the Modern Iranian Art exhibit, one of my favorite pieces was that of Sohrab Sepehri. A noted printmaker, poet and artist, Sepehri depicts a scene from his hometown in his piece labeled Trees with Figure. This piece automatically captured my attention. The juxtaposition between the colorful fruits and leaves located at the top of the tree with the somber and arid looking atmosphere was very perplexing to me. I stared at longer and longer and I began to come to a conclusion about what Sepehri was trying to show. He was trying to indicate to viewers that something, in and of itself, may seem very ravaged but every person finds beauty in a unique way. Sepehri finds beauty in his hometown in a way that no one else might and that symbolizes the animated fruit and leaves at the top of the tree. This painting really supports the cliché “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Someone may not even find a moment of beauty in that which you find absolutely mesmerizing. Sepehri’s painting was one of my favorites in the Modern Iranian Art exhibit because it fused elements of Iranian art with modern art that many viewers would find relatable. I wish I had been able to see many of these pieces in person because viewing them electronically does not do justice to the meticulous attention to every detail and every brushstroke.
December 17th, 2013
by kmishra
Visiting this gallery was a very unique experience. I learned about Pope L, who was previously unheard of by me, as well as got a glimpse of Iranian art that I would have never gotten any opportunity to see.
December 14th, 2013
by Maria Camila Osorio
The concept of changing representative things into an abstract form of art was something I hadn’t seen before. It was pretty clever the way the artists also protested through those works of art. I was also able to appreciate a bit more the Iranian culture in the sense that they took censorship as their drive to new creations of art. Based on our conversations and what we learned from the guide, poetry at that time wasn’t a free form of art, therefore, finding painting as a venue to still voice poetry and the messages behind it was, I thought, an authentic form of expressing oneself.
December 12th, 2013
by michellecherian95
Four Directions of an Arist: Charles Hossein Zenderoudi
At first I thought this was some crazy abstract piece that I could never wrap my head around. I thought that it was a beautiful pattern that I would wear on a dress, some kind of contorted floral print. After explanations, you realize the power in this piece. They are words without meaning. The artist took Arabic symbols and contorted them into nothing. It really shows how we are the ones who give words power. The actual sketches on the page are meaningless.
Eating the Wall Street Journal: Pope L
At first, I thought this was just some construction going on in the museum. I didn’t understand why newspapers were all piled up to lead to a toilet thrown, but when you watch the video of his performance, you can’t help but want to throw up. People stood as he ate the Wall Street Journal and proceeded to throw it up. It inverts the social ladder, bringing the elite newspapers down to the bottom, and these mundane things like ketchup and milk and human excrement up to the top. It also turns this representation of elitism into something as mundane as a bodily excretion. We give the elite the power and we can easily take it away.
December 11th, 2013
by Sherry Sara Oommen
Transitions inc. “We turn Minorities into Majorities”
Daniel Tisdale
At my first “look”, I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. Boxes of “Dark and Lovely” stood perched in a way that one would see boxes of cereal stacked in a shopping market. In India, there is a similar product called “Fair and Lovely” that actually does make one’s skin fairer which, to Indian people makes you lovelier. They have crèmes of this product for both men and women and both genders have been known to stock up on “Fair and Lovely” bottles. I thought during my first look that perhaps this art piece celebrates darker skin color. Instead of associating “fair” with “lovely”, it was associating “dark” with being beautiful. However, it was only in the look again and after the guide explained a few things that I realized that this was more than just an art piece, it was a performance. A performance that satirizes how society thinks social mobility is directly linked to fair/white skin color and that any darker shade fixates a person to an inferior class. Daniel Tisdale, acting as Tracy Goodman a sales associate, stood on the sidewalks trying to sell beauty products that claimed to make one fairer subtly advocating that only being white would allow one to live a better life. There were even before and after photographs of “clients” who used the products. A particular quote from a Native American struck me and it said something like “I used to live to live on a reservation, but thanks to Transitions inc., I now live in a condo!” While some people responded in outrage, the fact still remains that a good number of people actually considered the products. The array of responses received during the performance is a reflection of how society feels about what is necessary to social mobility.
December 10th, 2013
by mattrosenthal
I thought this piece was extremely grotesque; it captures the race/class division problems that exist in New York, and America. The “simulated” vomit on the newspapers on the floor was almost as bad as if the real vomit was there. For a moment, I felt the rage that Pope L. must have felt– after all, he must have been really passionate about these problems if he was willing to eating newspapers and regurgitate them as part of a performance. I noticed the toilet as the throne for his performance.
After looking at this piece again, I noticed the fishing pole that was apparently used to pull the stacks of newspapers up to his throne. This piece is full of irony, as Pope L. uses common objects to fight against upper class corruption. (Other objects used are ketchup, milk, the toilet).
December 9th, 2013
by nicholas
Transitions Inc.
My initial reaction to this piece is based heavily on the reactions people had to the work.instead of being offended by the statement it makes on American culture, they welcome a chance to be “assimilated”. I had hoped this piece would make people realize how terrible it was to feel like assimilation was *necessary,* but instead it had the exact opposite effect.
Upon further thought, I realize that the fault lies not in the minorities who are so desperate to fit in, but in the majority who are so reluctant to accept minorities.the products on display in this piece are designed specifically to help people assimilate into a more “acceptable” society, and are both produced and marketed primarily by white businesspeople, the real cause behind the racial crisis that this piece is mocking.
Golden egg amidst grid of white eggs
My initial reaction to this was to draw comparisons between it and the works of Andy Warhol. My understanding of Warhol’s pop-art pieces I’d that he aimed to point out how modern society has become somewhat “copy-paste.” There are too many followers and not enough leaders.the Iranian piece seems to have a similar message, glorifying individuality and nonconformity as a bright gold egg that stands out from the rest.the Iranian identity sets this artist apart, and (s)he is happy to embrace it.
My second reaction is shaped by a similar, adjacent, piece in which the Iranian “hand” icon appears black amongst a grid of white hands. It sends to me to say that while standing out as an Iranian artist is a blessing, it is a black curse, as well.the Iranian artists in this exhibit all have to struggle to overcome some of the the stereotypes and expectations attached to their identity, which is the curse that this adjacent piece seems to bring up.
December 7th, 2013
by sarahkabariti
Calligraphy (1964)
Siah Armajani
I looked at it initially and it reminded me of the art is history piece of art I had brought into class. The type of art is called microgrpahy, where pieces of texts are placed in positions to create an image of some sort. The pieces of text in this piece of art are verses of poems written in Arabic. Within the calligraphy I hadn’t noticed any image, all I saw were Arabic words almost mashed together with no specific order or pattern. When we were told that the picture was created from Arabic letters I was surprised not to recognize the letters.
December 5th, 2013
by Linda Dayan
I love how Armajani combines visual art with written words. I think she is trying to bring out the point that just as words can make a statement, so to visual art can be used as an outlet for (in her case) political critique.
December 4th, 2013
by Adam
In Armajani’s Calligraphy (1964), numerous poems in arabic were separated and placed on a canvas in a random order. In this way, Armajani is trying to show his audience that even though calligraphy is an old form of writing that is not used often it can be something seen as modern as well. Siah Armajani is an Iranian born sculptor and knowing this extra bit of information made his piece even more understandable because, like in his occupation, he took basic materials and created something greater that can be interpreted numerous ways by each individual.
December 3rd, 2013
by Hynes
When I first looked at this piece I found it very intriguing. What caught my eye was the pendulum looking object in the middle of the structure that for some reason reminded me of Miley Cyris’ “Wrecking Ball.” I also loved the paper mache effect and the way the newspaper overlapped. I didn’t even notice anything on the top of the structure. On my second look with the guide, I looked up and saw a toilet, and a bottle of ketchup, and flour, and a carton of milk. Now I was confused. Then I saw the TV in the background. At first I thought that maybe the whole structure was simply to symbolize that the world of business isn’t elite and that businessmen aren’t superior, which is why there was a toilet and other everyday items on top of the structure. Then I watched the video a bit close and the guide explained what the performance really was: A man eating the Wall Street Journal with ketchup and milk and regurgitating it every so often. Well. If I wasn’t already uncomfortable, I was now. The thought of someone damaging themselves like that makes me cringe, and watching someone swallow newspaper on screen makes me nauseous. I understand the concept and the profound meaning behind it now; I was right to an extent when I first looked at it, except this performer took it to a whole other level.
December 3rd, 2013
by adriana
Making Minorities Majorities
From viewing both exhibitions there was one piece that really stood out to me, and it has left a permanent impression on me. At first glance “Making Minorities Majorities” this piece was one that I did have some sort of an understanding of what the piece was trying to illicit. However, by viewing it again and putting together all the different ideas and emotions that I got from this piece, made me grasp a deeper understanding of the whole purpose and meaning behind the display.
The piece displayed simple products. Products that could be used to make minorities majorities
A way to get minorities to become majorities was by first making them look as close as possible to a typical American. This could be achieved through the use of the products they had displayed. By using these products, they could get a desired look that would change how they are viewed.
December 2nd, 2013
by Christian Budhi
Persian Telephone – Parvis Tanovoli
At my first look at this piece, I thought it was a representation of the human being, representing both men and women. The part protruding from the sculpture could have been the male gentital while the part that the protruding part could have been the female part of the sculpture. At first glance I believed that it was trying to say how men and women are both the same, emphasizing a probably androgyny in the time it was created. But looking at the title and blurb, the sculpture is a telephone. Looking at the detail of the telephone, there are spikes in both the base of the telephone and the number pad. This is probably trying to change objects that are known to Iranian society. Turning the phone into a phallic object could possibly be another way Tanovoli to change traditional compositions of that phone.
Spade – David Hommons
At first glance I see that the piece puts a black man on the face of a card. More importantly, he’s on the face of a spade which is the highest suit in a deck of cards. This is probably saying that the black man is powerful, that he can beat anything that comes against him. Looking deeper into the painting a second time, I saw that the man had features that are pinned to the stereotypical black man. He had big lips and an afro, both of which looked imprinted onto the card. Thinking about it, it seems as if the man had fallen onto the card like maybe he was dropped. Maybe the man was forced there and was forced to be played like a game.
December 1st, 2013
by Michael Franco
I particularly liked the photograph of the homeless man selling snowballs of different sizes. This simple gesture was both moving and inspiring to me. In a life full of lemons, this man has successfully made lemonade.
November 21st, 2013
by sarabrownr
Anthology by Cliffod Owens is a series of photographs in which the photographer, Clifford Owens took photo’s of his performance art piece where he kissed random audience members. The images look extremely intimate, but are all very diverse. The audience members range from young women, to men, to older women, older men, etc. The photos have a very voyeuristic quality.
The Last Poet in Iran is a painting by Parvoviruses Tanavoli. The picture is a white canvas with neat rows of amorphous black figures. The figures are indicative of people, but are very abstract. In the bottom right corner is a bright red figure, which symbolizes the last poet of Iran, who stands out of the crowd of nondescript figures.
November 17th, 2013
by Shinnosuke Takahashi
Siah Armajani, Prayer for the Sun, 1962
At first, I had not a single clue about what this painting meant. It seemed like a division of water and land, as one orb is blue and the other, brown. However, upon further inspection, Arabic characters can be seen within, perhaps distinguishing between two types of calligraphy.
I was blown away when I learned the actual meaning behind this piece. It represents the border between traditional Iranian art and contemporary Iranian art. I believe that the background is also blue because it tells the reader that that specific painting is contemporary.
William Pope.L, Eating the Wall Street Journal
This piece of performance art is radical, to say the least. It features a toilet mounted on a gigantic platform, surrounded by newspapers, milk jugs, and ketchup bottles. At first glance, I would be surprised if anyone knew what this piece meant.
Upon learning the true purpose of this piece, I was moved. Pope.L ingests the newspaper with the help of milk and ketchup, and regurgitates it onto the audience. Although disgusting, this work informs the victim (viewer) of the exploitation of the lower class. By ingesting the Wall Street Journal, Pope.L is fighting against them, and the regurgitation of the papers is symbolic of the purging of greed from his body.
November 14th, 2013
by gloriasafdieh
“Say it Loud” by Satch Hoyt is a depiction of the endurance of blacks in regards to all the challenges they were faced with (slavery and segregation, to name a few). However, it seemed ironic that the words “I’m black” were removed from the song, since the piece was celebrating the black struggle and the blacks’ perseverance.
“Four Directions of an Artist,” by Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, portrayed calligraphy, or beautiful writing, being broken down into an alphabet soup, and being muddled into incoherence. This piece struck me as challenging and protesting the artist’s rich Iranian tradition of calligraphy by stripping away its meaning.
November 7th, 2013
by Thomas Saw Aung
Say It Loud by Satch Hoyt is a podium made of books that all focus on the black legacy. The music that accompanies the podium clearly defines its function. A place for one to feel proud of their heritage is heard from the line “Say it loud – I’m _____ and I’m proud.”
Persian Telephone by Parviz Tanavoli is a piece of art from the saqqakhaneh art movement in Iran. The sculpture combines elements of religion with pop art to produce a peculiar telephone.
November 2nd, 2013
