%C2%A9 Siah Armajani
Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, 20th century
Siah Armajaniexpand_more
Pen and ink on cardboardexpand_more
Gift of Louise Plattexpand_more 2019.130
Not on Viewexpand_more
Minnesota-based, Iranian-American artist Siah Armajani (b.1939) is celebrated as one of the preeminent figures of conceptual art. His broad oeuvre consists of sculptures, drawings and public works which exist between the boundaries of art and architecture, and imbued, in the artist’s words, with “a passion for democracy.” Armajani grew up in Tehran, where he studied philosophy and witnessed the 1953 coup d’etat of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. He worked in opposition to the regime until 1960, when he moved to the United States and began his studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul. This drawing
was likely created during this period, based on an iconic image of the symbol of the Indian Independence movement—Mahatma Gandhi. Executed in the artist’s characteristic, obsessive marks, the drawing successfully endows Gandhi with dimensionality and aura.
Details
- Title
- Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi
- Artist Life
- American (born Iran), 1939 - 2020
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2019.130
- Curator Approved
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© Siah Armajani