Geometric, 2014
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaianexpand_more
Felt-tip pen and metallic pen on paperexpand_more
Gift of funds from Mary and Bob Merskyexpand_more 2021.35.1
On View in Gallery 243expand_more
Monir Shohroudy migrated from her native Iran to New York in 1945, spending twelve formative years in the city's leading artistic circles. Yet, it was after returning to Iran and visiting the mirrored-interior of the Shah Chergah mosque in Shiraz in 1975 that she had her creative revelation:
“the very space seemed on fire, the lamps blazing in hundreds and thousands of reflection...It was a universe unto itself, architecture transformed by performance, all movement and fluid light, all solids fractured and dissolved in brilliance in space, in prayer.”
After this experience, when the material world transformed into the infinite, she embarked on a practice with a singular focus: geometry. In these universal forms, she found affinity with her minimalist counterparts in America--especially Frank Stella, a close friend and whose work is on view in the Fountain Court--yet embraced the spiritual dimensions of shapes as well. The octagon, for example, represents paradise--a fusion of the square, representing humanity, with the circle, representing eternity.
Details
- Title
- Geometric
- Artist Life
- 1922 - 2019
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2021.35.1
- Curator Approved
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