A Social Invitation

Shirin Neshat (链接到外部网站。)

Shirin Neshat created a series of works titled Women of Allah that incorporate text on photographs of Islamic women. Neshat was born and raised in Iran, and she moved to the United States to study art as well as to escape the unrest that was happening in Iran due to the Islamic Revolution. According to Neshat, the focus of her work is “the subject of women in relation to Iranian society and the revolution…” using both black and white photography as well as film. View the series Women of Allah. The text that is incorporated includes religious quotes and poetry, juxtaposing with the beautiful compositions showing disturbing images of Islamic women.

Consider social and political issues that affect you in your culture and region to make that the subject of your work. Take a photo to provide the visual image. Print in black and white. Then incorporate written text in poetic, narrative, or explanatory verse to reinforce the social issue of your work.

Then tell us what type of criticism you believe people would use to view that work you created and why. There are a number of different types of contemporary art criticism. Ideological criticism relates the political ideas of art. Structuralist-based criticism deals with the overall structure of art (formal elements) or the multiple layers of meanings that deconstruct art. Psychoanalytic criticism deals with the experiences of the individual, in their past, their subconscious mind, or in their social histories. Feminist criticism deals with gender issues such as oppression of women.

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