Shirin Neshat 'Born of Fire' Opens at the Parrish

The Parrish Art Museum will open a new show “Shirin Neshat: Born of Fire,” on April 20. This is the internationally renowned Iranian-born artist’s first solo museum exhibition in the New York area in 20 years and first ever on the East End.

The exhibition provides a nonlinear survey of Neshat’s artistic development through four significant bodies of work: Women of Allah (1993-97), The Book of Kings (2012), Land of Dreams (2019) and The Fury (2022-23). Presented together, these bodies of work trace the evolution of Neshat’s practice, exploring themes of female empowerment, political resistance, and displacement through photography, video, and film, and highlight her distinctive use of poetic imagery, calligraphy, and deep personal storytelling. The presentation also features a small gallery dedicated to Neshat’s private collection of work by fellow artists from the Middle East and friends, such as Marina Abramović and Robert Longo.

“We are proud to present this groundbreaking and comprehensive exhibition. The content is both timely and deeply relevant,” Executive Director of the Parrish Art Museum Mónica Ramírez-Montagut said. “For the Parrish, exhibitions like this are vital — they ensure the museum’s success by engaging both local and national audiences and truly move the needle toward progress. Shirin Neshat’s work challenges perspectives and sparks conversations, making this exhibition a milestone for the Museum and our community.”

“‘Shirin Neshat: Born of Fire’ is an exhibition that brings together my earliest to my latest work,” said the artist. “The Women of Allah (1993-1997) and The Book of Kings (2012) photographic series capture the most significant historical and political upheavals in Iran in modern times, the 1979 Islamic revolution and the 2009 Green movement. With Land of Dreams (2019) for the first time, I turn my lens toward the West and offer my point of view as an Iranian immigrant about America, a nation that once welcomed displaced immigrants, and how its core identity is now being compromised. Finally, The Fury (2023) touches on the systematic violence and sexual exploitation of women imprisoned as political detainees by men in uniforms.”

“I am beyond thrilled to present this survey of Shirin Neshat’s work — it is the culmination not only of her three-decades-long artistic career but our friendship that has lasted just as long,” said Corinne Erni, Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator, Art and Education, Parrish Art Museum. “Neshat’s starkly beautiful, hypnotizing, and rhythmically choreographed visual stories are profoundly cathartic; they transport us to an almost religious experience that reassures us of our humanity — art can do that, and we need it in these turbulent times.”

Shirin Neshat (b. 1957, Qazvin, Iran), an Iranian-born artist and filmmaker living in New York, has spent her career examining what it means to exist between two cultures, focusing on human resilience in the face of upheaval and oppression. Neshat moved to California for her studies in the 1970s. When the Islamic Revolution erupted in Iran in 1979, she was unable to return to her home and family for many years. A brief visit in the 1990s, where she witnessed the impact of rigid Islamic law on Iranian women, marked the beginning of Neshat’s engagement with themes of female empowerment, political resistance, and displacement. Drawing on the emotional impact of poetry and music, her highly stylized photographs and narrative time-based works explore the turbulent social conditions of life in Iran and, more recently, America.

Shirin Neshat: Born of Fire is organized by Erni with Scout Hutchinson, associate curator of exhibitions. The Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. Visit parrishart.org for details

Women of Allah (1993-97)

“I made this body of work … following my first trip to Iran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. With this series, I began an uncompromising journey of experimentation and discovery, using art as the means to resolve personal dilemmas … Four symbolic elements recur in this work: the veil, the gun, the text, and the gaze. Despite the Western representation of the veil as a symbol of Muslim women’s oppression, the subjects of these images look strong and imposing. In fact, the use of the black veil as a uniform has transformed the feminine body into that of a warrior, determined and even heroic … Although the Persian words written on the works’ surfaces may seem like a decorative motif, they contribute significant meaning. The texts are amalgams of poems and prose works mostly by contemporary women writers in Iran. These writings express sometimes diametrically opposed political and ideological views, from the slogans of martyrdom and self-sacrifice to poetic, sensual, and even sexual mediations.” — Shirin Neshat

The Book of Kings (2012)

Inspired by 11th-century poet Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, the pre-Islamic Persian epic, The Book of Kings is a large-scale photographic installation exploring the concept of patriotism. In this series of staged photographs, Neshat makes visual and allegorical parallels between ancient and contemporary history and the notion of heroism in her native country, Iran. The work is divided into three societal groups:

• The Masses: Individual framed portraits of ordinary people with fine veils of script across their faces, revealing emotions of anxiety, resignation, defiance, and fear.

• The Patriots: Figures with hands over their hearts, a universal patriotic gesture, signifying one’s willingness to make any sacrifice for political change. Here, faces are covered with bolder calligraphy written in columns formatted like the verses found on the pages of traditional manuscripts of the Shahnameh. The patriots’ gazes suggest a sense of conviction, pride, defiance, and bravery.

• The Villains: Life-sized portraits representative of political or religious figures, their torsos feature violent battle-scene imagery found in illustrations from the Shahnameh.

Unable to return to Iran, Neshat began turning her eye to American culture with Land of Dreams. Bridging photographic, cinematic, and video installation practices, Neshat chose the deserts of New Mexico for the similarities to Iranian landscapes as the setting for this project.

The immersive installation at the Parrish includes:

A photographic installation featuring 111 portraits of Americans in New Mexico. In 2019, Neshat traveled across the state, photographing subjects and recording their dreams. Each portrait is inscribed with Farsi text, including names, birth details, and interpretations of their dreams.

An accompanying video follows Simin, an Iranian spy disguised as an art student, who documents Americans’ dreams. She returns to The Colony, a secretive Iranian society hidden in the mountains, where members analyze American dreams.

The Fury (2022-23)

Shot in Brooklyn in 2022, this work features a two-channel video installation and a series of nearly life-size black-and-white photographs, focusing on the female body as both a site of violence and strength. The work delves into the trauma endured by Iranian women political prisoners, tracing the psychological aftermath of captivity. The accompanying photographs, inscribed with poetry by Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad, convey both dignity and pain.

Shirin Neshat’s Personal Collection

A dedicated gallery will showcase Neshat’s private collection, including works by friends such as Marina Abramović and Robert Longo, as well as artists from the Middle East. This installation highlights Neshat’s artistic influences and her commitment to supporting fellow creators, especially from cultures where artistic expression is stifled by censorship.

“Over the years, I’ve slowly grown a collection of artwork by artists from different generations, cultures and stages in their careers whom I’ve admired. Among them are works by friends who have either generously gifted me their art or have captured my portrait as photographs or paintings,” Neshat said. “Several of the artists are Iranian women, living both in Iran and abroad, whose work speaks to me, because it captures the plight and symbolic struggle of Iranian women.”