Yarat is pleased to announce the exhibition "Shirin Neshat: The house of my eyes", dedicated to the opening of the Centre of Modern Art YARAT in Baku at 24 March 2015. The exhibition focuses on new works of the famous artist, created after her visit to Azerbaijan. In Baku, the exhibition's curator Dina Nasser – Hadivi. The exhibition will also feature two earlier works by Shirin Neshat – video – installations "Monologue" (1999) and "Passage" (2001), which largely shaped her future creativity.
For visitors the exhibition will be open from 24.03.2015 – 23.06.2015.
At the opening of the new centre, simultaneously with the exhibition by Shirin Neshat, will also be presented an exhibition of works from the permanent collection of YARAT. Along with works by artists of world renown, whose work invariably causes a wide resonance in Azerbaijan, the collection also includes works by artists of the Caucasus, Central Asia and neighbouring countries. The collection was created in the past three years, and will continue to increase, particularly due to the acquisition of new works at the exhibitions, which will be scheduled at the Centre of Contemporary Art YARAT curated by Suad Garayeva.
In her works, Shirin Neshat considers features of cultural identity of the person, gender issues, boldly expresses her attitudes to traditional for Iran, and to modern concept of the person. Recently her creativity in photography, is more and more focused on creating of portraits, where through the prism of the author's view of her characters are disclosed their personal stories, their internal cultural vicissitudes – in the works can be "read" stories told by the heroes of these portraits.
A series of works The house of my eyes (2015) was created in the wake of the growing interest of Shirin Neshat to the portrait genre. During her stay in Azerbaijan in 2014, Shirin Neshat created more than 50 photos – portraits of people between the ages of two to eighty years old, from all corners of the country. Photographing the project participants, Shirin Neshat asked each of them a series of questions, the answers to which have opened cultural identity of facing the camera person and his idea of home. Later, the answers of each respondent by a calligraphic script were written in his photo portrait.
Shirin Neshat explains: "I believe that a new series of images makes a portrait of the country which has been a crossroads of different ethnicities, religions and languages very long time. Paying tribute to the rich history of Azerbaijan and the diversity of this region, this series of works creates a palette of human images made up of 55 portraits of the men and women of different generations. "
Works of series The house of my eyes formed a monumental installation that fills the two walls of 11 – meter height in one of the halls of the Centre of Contemporary Art YARAT.
Centre of Contemporary Art YARAT is the first permanent platform of non-profit organization YARAT, created by its founder and artistic director Aida Mahmudova in the group of artists in 2011 and has since sold over 80 projects. This building with views of the Caspian Sea and the area of 2000 m2 in Soviet times belonged to the military – naval forces, and now, after appropriate renovation, it becomes a new object of YARAT, is called to become a centre of contemporary art and art education throughout the region. For YARAT education is a key activity with special integrated program, consisting of meetings with successful figures in the arts, competitions and practical classes addressed to the most different groups of students – ranging from students – artists and ending with families. For the purposes of this program in the new centre opens training base with the library and the audience.
About the artist Shirin Neshat:
Born in Iran the artist Shirin Neshat is widely known as the author of impressive video installations and photographs. In her works she often refers to the social, cultural and religious codes of society, to the dynamics of known antagonisms, depicts motifs that differ by striking visual contrast of light and dark, black and white, male and female.
Shirin Neshat left Iran in 1974, gone to study. For the first time she visited again her homeland in 1990, and this trip had an indelible influence on all her subsequent work – inspired her to innovative work. In the period from 1993 to 1997 Shirin Neshat created an innovative series of black and white photographs "Women of Allah", where the hands and faces of the characters were covered with ligature of the Persian calligraphy. She became world celebrity in 1999, when her film "Turbulent» received the international prize of the Venice Biennale, and in the following year she had her personal exhibition in London Gallery Serpentine. Shirin Neshat has received many awards, including the Crystal Award of the World Economic Forum in Davos (2014), Grand Prix of the Korean Biennale (2000), the Silver Lion of the Venice International Film Festival for Best Director of the film "Women Without Men" (2008).
Works of Shirin Neshat were demonstrated in solo and group exhibitions organized at the most prestigious platforms of the world, including: Institute of Arts in Detroit (2013), Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (2013), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2011), Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2006), Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis (2002), the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens (2001), Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2000) and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (1998). She is a member of major Biennale, including Venetian, in Sydney, in Johannesburg, in Istanbul, as well as the Biennial Whitney. Moreover, she participated in such festivals as the Chicago International Film Festival, International Film Festival in San – Francisco and Film Festival Tribeca.
Shirin Neshat lives and works in New – York.
