Artist Arghavan Khosravi Paints a New Portrait of Women in the Middle East
Ahead of her two new East Coast exhibitions, the Iranian artist shares how she hopes to shift the perceptions and depictions of her female protagonists.
“There’s a notion in Western media that Middle Eastern women are victims that need to be rescued,” says Iranian artist Arghavan Khosravi. “This is not the image of the Middle Eastern woman that I know. I want to make sure the people viewing my work see that as well.”
On the heels of “Black Rain,” her first museum solo show at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum, Khosravi is already shifting her focus to two new presentations. The first, “True to Self,” opened last Saturday at Rachel Uffner Gallery in New York, with the second eponymous exhibition premiering at the Newport Art Museum in Rhode Island on Nov. 18.
“True to Self” showcases her latest sculptures, including mixed-media wall-mounted pieces and larger-than-life freestanding figures that the artist treats like paintings, adorning their surfaces with stunning portraits of women. Centered on themes of agency, identity, and womanhood, the show reflects on the artist’s own life and the collective experiences of oppression that women face in Iran and across the world.
