Shirin Neshat moved to the United States just a few years before the 1978–1979 Iranian Revolution. Upon returning to her home country in 1990, Neshat was confronted with a starkly different political and social reality than the one she left. Due to mounting political tensions, Neshat has been living in virtual exile since 1996. Many of Neshat’s works are black and white, a visual metaphor for the complex dualities—and tensions—addressed in her practice: east and west; personal and political; male and female. Her photographs feature modern Persian poetry transcribed onto the human body, while her ventures into video bring the realities of exile into stark relief.

–Georgie von Furth, from the Glenstone Field Guide