Shirin Neshat

b. 1957

Born in Qazvin, Iran, artist Shirin Neshat currently lives in New York City. She studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where she received her BA, MA and MFA. Known for her work in mixed media performance, photography, and video installations, Neshat’s practice explores disparities between Islam and the West, masculinity and femininity and public and private life.

Her notable works include The Shadow Under the Web (1997), Speechless (1996), Women Without Men (2004) and Rapture (1999). Since her first solo show in 1993 at Franklin Furnace in New York, Neshat’s works are included in the collections at the Tate in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, among others.

Neshat has been recognised for winning the International Award of the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999, and the Silver Lion as the best director at the 66th Venice Film Festival in 2009. She was named Artist of the Decade by the Huffington Post and is a critic in the photography department at the Yale School of Art.

@shirin__neshat