SHIRIN NESHAT (Iranian, born 1957) Fervor (Couple at Intersection), 1999 gelatin silver print, triptych, 50 x 63" each, edition 4/5 Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Norman E. Boasberg Fund, 2000.

Shirin Neshat was born in Iran. In order to shield her from the effects of the Islamic Revolution, Neshat’s father sent her to the United States to attend high school. She studied art at the University of California at Berkeley prior to moving to New York in 1983, but did not actively pursue her artistic career until the early 1990s. It was also at that time that she made her first trips back to Iran. Initially working with black and white photography inspired by her native Iran in 1993, she has subsequently explored video. Neshat has said of her work: “My focus from the beginning was the subject of women in relation to Iranian society and the revolution…”

These three images are from her video entitled, Fervor, the third in a series of three (including Turbulent and Rapture) in which the artist considered the topic of masculine and feminine within the social structure of Iran. With layers of images and an implied narrative, the video focuses on the sexuality and seduction that exists through eye contact – something that is strictly forbidden between a man and a woman in Iran. This prohibition heightens desire and loads the exchanging of glances with emotional and sexual overtones only fully understood within the context of Iranian social and sexual norms. The artist’s compositional control and contrasting use of black, white, and gray, combined with the suggestion of a storyline in this trio of photographs produce a heightened sense of intrigue and apprehension in the piece.

- Jennifer Bayles, Educator for Special Projects