"Iranian Contemporary Art: The Curve"
2001-04-12 until 2001-06-03
Barbican Art Gallery
London, , UK United Kingdom

Celebrating the artistic vibrancy of Iranian art of the last 40 years, this exhibition provides a unique opportunity to appreciate the scope of developments in recent years and to see key works, many of which are presented for the first time outside Iran. It shows pieces both from before and after the revolution of 1979 and includes artists who live abroad alongside those who live and work in Iran. The exhibition represents significant trends of the Iranian art scene. It covers a wide range of styles, from calligraphic or abstract to figurative, and includes video, photography and installations.

The exhibition takes as a starting point a moment in the early 1960s when artists from Iran, fully acquainted with western art, sought inspiration from their own rich cultural heritage to produce distinctive forms of modern art. More recent works by a younger generation are shown, amongst them pieces that explore a conflict between modernism and tradition, or take a light-hearted look at the paradoxes of contemporary life. The exhibition brings together for the first time in Britain works from private and public collections inside and outside Iran, with a substantial group of paintings from Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, to provide an accessible and intriguing account of contemporary Iranian art. Iranian Contemporary Art is organised by Barbican Art in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation and Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Supported by Asia House, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Visiting Arts.

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