In the fields of empty days : the intersection of past and present in Iranian art / Linda Komaroff ; with additional contributions by Sheila R. Canby, Sheida Dayani, Hamid Keshmirshekan, Hani Khafipour, Vali Mahlouji, Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan, Shadi Shafiei, and Sandra Williams
"Published in conjunction with the exhibition 'In The Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art' at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, May 6-September 9, 2018"--Colophon.
HMSG copy purchased with funds from the S. Dillon Ripley Endowment.
Contents:
Time and again : the intersection of past and present Iranian art / Linda Komaroff -- The theatrical roots of contemporary visual arts in Iran / Sheida Dayani -- Ideology and photography in nineteenth-century Iran / Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan -- The anachronistic role of Safavid manuscript illustrations / Sheila R. Canby -- Heroism in contemporary Iranian art / Sandra Williams -- The fantastical polaroids of Kaveh Golestan / Vali Mahlouji -- Reflecting the past into the present versus constructive specificity in modern and contemporary art in Iran / Hamid Keshmirshekan -- Tattoo culture of the Zurkhana / Shadi Shafiei -- Siamak Filizadeh's Underground / Linda Komaroff -- Echoes of Safavis past / Hani Khafipour
Summary:
The past is a continuous and inescapable part of Iranian art and culture. This book beautifully demonstrates this notion with examples dating from the 1970s to the present-a time of turmoil and political upheaval. Featuring a dizzying variety of works-from paintings and photography to political cartoons and posters-this volume shows how contemporary artists appropriate and recontextualize myth and history to tell powerful new stories about life in Iran. This book also explores how pre-Modern artists first began to manipulate time by visually shifting the past into the present as demonstrated by Persian miniature painting, in particular illustrated versions of the Shahnama, or Book of Kings, the Iranian national epic. Statements from prominent contemporary artists consider the creative means by which they evoke the past to address present-day social and political concerns. Designed to promote fluid movement between historical and modern, this wideranging book offers a unique and important exploration of a country with a rich and complicated heritage.00Exhibition: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA (06.05. - 09.09.2018).
