‘Land of Dreams’ is the first time that Shirin Neshat has looked to America – where she has lived for 40 years – for the focus of her work. Almost augural, the exhibition opening followed the recent escalation of tensions between her native land, Iran and her adoptive home of the US. Throughout the show, she explores the American dream, as read by an Iranian. Her protagonist, Simin, serves as a guide both in portraiture and film and stands in for Neshat, allowing the artist some objective distance.
The show comprises two video installations and over 100 portraits, the latter showing diverse American faces, each looking back at the viewer as though about to tell a story.
Shirin Neshat, The Colony, 2019
The videos are a satirical juxtaposition of the American dream, specifically the dream of the marginalised, and the US tensions with Iran. The first follows Simin as she knocks on doors in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the hopes of documenting its residents’ portraits and dreams. The second subverts the perception of what Iranians get up to, depicting a surreal Iranian dream-processing plant, where current narratives would suggest a bomb-making factory.
Neshat chose New Mexico for its demographics: it is one of the poorest US states, its populations of Hispanic people, African American and Native Americans are among the largest in the country. For the artist, who before the project had never met a Native American, the destitution she witnessed on their reservations stood in marked contrast to the dignity of the people.
Shirin Neshat, Paulita Cowboy, from Land of Dreams series 2019 C-print & ink Work: 84.6 x 119.4 cm
Shirin Neshat, Jenasis Greer, from Land of Dreams series 2019 C-print & ink Work: 182.9 x 121.9 cm
The exhibition hinges on Neshat’s own immigrant identity and divided sense of home. She had returned to America in 1996 after a period of politically motivated detainment in Iran, a reaction against her work. Upon her release, she arrived at the US border and met an African American immigration officer, who welcomed her home. ‘Land of Dreams’ is Neshat’s reaction to the increased hostility that immigrants in America now experience in the years since. The Goodman exhibition is but the first chapter of her project, she hopes to start shooting a feature film by the same name this spring.
Installation view of Land of Dreams by Shirin Neshat. Photography: courtesy of Goodman Gallery
It's looking to be a major year for the artist, who has recently been announced as Master of Photography at Photo London 2020. A celebratory show, including a site-specific installation, will be on view at Somerset House from 14 May – 21 June.
Shirin Neshat, The Colony, 2019
Shirin Neshat, Land of Dreams, 2019
INFORMATION
‘Land of Dreams', until 28 March, Goodman Gallery. goodman-gallery.com
ADDRESS
Goodman Gallery
26 Cork Street
London W1S 3ND
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the worldCelebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
Australian bathhouse ‘About Time’ bridges softness and brutalism‘About Time’, an Australian bathhouse designed by Goss Studio, balances brutalist architecture and the softness of natural patina in a Japanese-inspired wellness hub
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuit
Ella Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyersAn exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
