Looking Deeper: Finding Meaning Through Cultural Context

Death and Parting

Käthe Kollwitz — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 02:27:39 -0400

Title	Death and Parting
Artist	Käthe Kollwitz
Date
Institution	Walker Art Center
Location	Not on view.

Farm Hand

William Gropper — Sat, 01 Jun 1940 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Farm Hand
Artist	William Gropper
Date	1940
Institution	Walker Art Center
Location	Not on view.

Barefooted man holding farm implement, barn in left background.

Soliloquy

Shirin Neshat — Tue, 01 Jun 1999 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Soliloquy
Artist	Shirin Neshat
Date	1999
Institution	Walker Art Center
Location	Not on view.

Soliloquy: West v. East

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:41 -0400

Title	Soliloquy: West v. East
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Soliloquy: West Part 1

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:42 -0400

Title	Soliloquy: West Part 1
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Soliloquy: East Part 1

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:43 -0400

Title	Soliloquy: East Part 1
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Soliloquy: West Part 2

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:44 -0400

Title	Soliloquy: West Part 2
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Soliloquy: East Part 2

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:44 -0400

Title	Soliloquy: East Part 2
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Museum: Background Information

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Museum: Background Information
Author	Walker Art Center
Date	2003
Institution	Walker Art Center

Shirin Neshat was born and raised in Iran, but was sent to the United States at the age of 17 to study art. When she was 22 years old, in 1979, the Islamic Revolution overtook Iran. She did not return for 11 years. During that time Iran went through major cultural and social changes, and by the time Neshat went there in 1990 she barely recognized her country. This experience affected her deeply, as she has said, "I can never call any place home. I will forever be in a state of in-between." Shirin Neshat stands between cultures metaphorically, psychologically, and socially, and she explores this feeling in her films and photographs.

Soliloquy, the most autobiographical of Shirin Neshat's works, examines self-identity. By placing the viewer between two screens that face each other, the artist shows how a person can feel divided between two worlds. One screen depicts a veiled Neshat roaming through an anonymous modern cityscape (filmed in Albany, New York). On the other, she is similarly dressed but traverses a traditional Eastern cityscape (Mardin, Turkey). She made this work shortly after the deaths of her father and cousin in Iran. It is marked by a sense of loss: mourning for family, for the pre-Revolutionary Iran of her childhood, and for her own sense of place, which she lost when her father sent her to study in the United States.

Shirin Neshat, Soliloquy (track 1)

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Shirin Neshat, Soliloquy (track 1)
Creator	Art on Call
Date	August 25, 2006
Institution	Walker Art Center

This audio file is part of Art on Call, the Walker Art Center audio program that includes artists, curators, and tour guides discussing works of art from the Walker's collection. Art on Call's interpretative content, a complete up-to-date listing of events at the Walker, and much more is available on your phone at 612.374.8200. Additional play options and more information about the program are available online at http://newmedia.walkerart.org/aoc/

Interview with Shirin Neshat

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:45 -0400

Title	Interview with Shirin Neshat
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Cultural Lens of the Artist

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:45 -0400

Title	Cultural Lens of the Artist
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Family on Front Steps - Frogtown

Wing Young Huie — Sat, 01 Jun 1996 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Family on Front Steps - Frogtown
Artist	Wing Young Huie
Date	1996
Institution	Walker Art Center
Location	Not on view.

ten family members gathered on the steps outside a home

Wing Young Huie: Biography

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:46 -0400

Title	Wing Young Huie: Biography
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Your Turn: Cultural Photo from Your Life

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:46 -0400

Title	Your Turn: Cultural Photo from Your Life
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Culture Shapes What We Create

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:23:47 -0400

Title	Culture Shapes What We Create
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Looking Deeper: Finding Meaning Through Cultural Context

Death and Parting

Death and Parting

Farm Hand

Farm Hand

1940

Soliloquy

Soliloquy

1999

Soliloquy: West v. East

Soliloquy: West v. East

Soliloquy: West Part 1

Soliloquy: West Part 1

Soliloquy: East Part 1

Soliloquy: East Part 1

Soliloquy: West Part 2

Soliloquy: West Part 2

Soliloquy: East Part 2

Soliloquy: East Part 2

Museum: Background Information

Museum: Background Information

Walker Art Center

2003

Shirin Neshat, Soliloquy (track 1)

Shirin Neshat, Soliloquy (track 1)

Art on Call

August 25, 2006

Interview with Shirin Neshat

Interview with Shirin Neshat

Cultural Lens of the Artist

Cultural Lens of the Artist

Family on Front Steps - Frogtown

Family on Front Steps - Frogtown

1996

Wing Young Huie: Biography

Wing Young Huie: Biography

Your Turn: Cultural Photo from Your Life

Your Turn: Cultural Photo from Your Life

Culture Shapes What We Create

Culture Shapes What We Create