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Talinn Grigor's Book on Contemporary Iranian Art to be Released
Wednesday, August 20th, 2014
http://asbarez.com/126160/talinn-grigor%E2%80%99s-book-on-contemporary-iranian-art-to-be-released/
Talinn Grigor's new book
CHICAGO--Fine arts professor at Brendeis University Talinn Grigor has
authored "Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio,"
which will be released on October 3 from Reaktion Book and is being
distributed by the University of Chicago Press in North America.
Grigor is Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at
Brandeis University, Boston. She is the author of "Identity Politics
in Irano-Indian Modern Architecture" (2013) and "Building Iran:
Modernism, Architecture, and National Heritage under the Pahlavi
Monarchs" (2009).
The art world has recently witnessed a surge of interest in
contemporary Iranian art, but what is the background to Iran's vibrant
art scene? This is the first comprehensive book on Iranian art and
visual culture since the 1979 revolution. Divided into three
parts--street, studio and exile--it covers official art sponsored by
the Islamic Republic, the culture of avant-garde art created in the
studio and its display in galleries and museums, and the art of the
Iranian diaspora within the Western art scene.
Grigor argues that these different areas of artistic production cannot
be fully understood independently, for it is not despite censorship
and exile that we are witnessing a boom in Iranian art today, as many
have argued, but because of them. Moving between subversive and daring
art produced in private to propaganda art made in the public view,
this book offers an artistic mirror of the socio-political turmoil
that has marked Iran's recent history.
The author explores the world of galleries, museums, curators and art
critics alongside a discussion of artists and their work, ranging from
propaganda murals and martyrdom paraphernalia to avant-garde paintings
and museum interiors. Grigor raises such topics as the
cross-pollination of kitsch and avant-garde, the art market, state
censorship, public-private domains, the political implications of art
and artistic identity in exile.
Providing an astute analysis of the workings of artistic production in
relation to the institutions of power in the Islamic Republic,
Contemporary Iranian Art is essential reading for anyone interested in
art today and in Iran's recent history.
"This book is a brave venture, a pioneering act of service to a broad
readership. Iran counts as among the most dynamic and charismatic
phenomena in the field of contemporary art and to learn about it one
has had to rely largely on vacuous marketing ploys of this lucrative
body of artistic material," said Dr. Sussan Babaie, History of Persian
and Islamic Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, and
author of "Isfahan and its Palaces."
"Talinn Grigor's painstaking research for this book, her rich
collection of visual and discursive data, her insights and very
readable prose contribute not only to our understanding of
contemporary Iran but also to the broader study of contemporary global
arts into which Iran should and does fit firmly. In many ways, this
book will be a benchmark for all future studies on contemporary
Iranian arts," added Babaie.
"Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio" by Talinn
Grigor. Reaktion Books (UK) distributed by University of Chicago Press
in North America Publication: 3rd October 2014. Cloth $39 296pp. 164
color plates, 10 halftones.
From: Baghdasarian
Wednesday, August 20th, 2014
http://asbarez.com/126160/talinn-grigor%E2%80%99s-book-on-contemporary-iranian-art-to-be-released/
Talinn Grigor's new book
CHICAGO--Fine arts professor at Brendeis University Talinn Grigor has
authored "Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio,"
which will be released on October 3 from Reaktion Book and is being
distributed by the University of Chicago Press in North America.
Grigor is Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at
Brandeis University, Boston. She is the author of "Identity Politics
in Irano-Indian Modern Architecture" (2013) and "Building Iran:
Modernism, Architecture, and National Heritage under the Pahlavi
Monarchs" (2009).
The art world has recently witnessed a surge of interest in
contemporary Iranian art, but what is the background to Iran's vibrant
art scene? This is the first comprehensive book on Iranian art and
visual culture since the 1979 revolution. Divided into three
parts--street, studio and exile--it covers official art sponsored by
the Islamic Republic, the culture of avant-garde art created in the
studio and its display in galleries and museums, and the art of the
Iranian diaspora within the Western art scene.
Grigor argues that these different areas of artistic production cannot
be fully understood independently, for it is not despite censorship
and exile that we are witnessing a boom in Iranian art today, as many
have argued, but because of them. Moving between subversive and daring
art produced in private to propaganda art made in the public view,
this book offers an artistic mirror of the socio-political turmoil
that has marked Iran's recent history.
The author explores the world of galleries, museums, curators and art
critics alongside a discussion of artists and their work, ranging from
propaganda murals and martyrdom paraphernalia to avant-garde paintings
and museum interiors. Grigor raises such topics as the
cross-pollination of kitsch and avant-garde, the art market, state
censorship, public-private domains, the political implications of art
and artistic identity in exile.
Providing an astute analysis of the workings of artistic production in
relation to the institutions of power in the Islamic Republic,
Contemporary Iranian Art is essential reading for anyone interested in
art today and in Iran's recent history.
"This book is a brave venture, a pioneering act of service to a broad
readership. Iran counts as among the most dynamic and charismatic
phenomena in the field of contemporary art and to learn about it one
has had to rely largely on vacuous marketing ploys of this lucrative
body of artistic material," said Dr. Sussan Babaie, History of Persian
and Islamic Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, and
author of "Isfahan and its Palaces."
"Talinn Grigor's painstaking research for this book, her rich
collection of visual and discursive data, her insights and very
readable prose contribute not only to our understanding of
contemporary Iran but also to the broader study of contemporary global
arts into which Iran should and does fit firmly. In many ways, this
book will be a benchmark for all future studies on contemporary
Iranian arts," added Babaie.
"Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio" by Talinn
Grigor. Reaktion Books (UK) distributed by University of Chicago Press
in North America Publication: 3rd October 2014. Cloth $39 296pp. 164
color plates, 10 halftones.
From: Baghdasarian