Untitled (Pentagon Sculpture)
Artist
Farmanfarmaian, Monir Shahroudy
(Iranian, 1924 - 2019)
Date2013
OriginIran
MediumMirror and plaster on wood
Dimensions24 × 28 × 28 in. (61 × 71.1 × 71.1 cm)
ClassificationsGlass
Credit LineCarolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III Art Purchase Fund
Object number2018.11
Label TextMonir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (Iranian, 1924-2019)
Untitled (Hexagon Sculpture)
Cut mirror mosaic and plaster on wood, 2013
Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III Art Collection Fund
One of the most prominent contemporary Iranian artists, Farmanfarmaian has articulated her singular vision through reverse-painted glass and mirrored objects. Living in New York during the 1940s and 1950s, she absorbed the development both of Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism - her work relates to the geometric forms of American minimalist sculpture, as well as to the patterns found in Iran’s architectural monuments. This, combined with her awareness of the arts and crafts of her native Iran, produced a singular aesthetic fusion of Persian pictorial language and pristine geometry.
Exemplary among Monir’s sculptural works, Untitled makes reference to both Iran’s famed mirrored shrines, such as Shāh-e-Chérāgh, and minimalist objects of the 1960s. Her work embodies the striking synthesis of two very different cultural impulses, which is the hallmark of Monir’s practice. Untitled (Hexagon) presents a volumetric rendering of a hexagon form covered in an intricate geometric mirrored pattern of interlocking rhomboid and diamond shapes. The reflections formed within its fragmented mirrors can change dramatically, depending on the surroundings and lighting. Her use of geometric shapes is underpinned by her studies of Sufi cosmology, in which each shape has an intrinsic symbolic meaning.
Status
On view
