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String

Shirazeh Houshiary Iranian-British
2012
Not on view
Three gyrating forms of interconnected gray fibers emanate from the dark blue field of this painting. The center of each is punctured by a black or white spot. As in many of her works, the artist started with a crosshatched rendition of two Persian words to generate the delicate, pulsating web pattern seen here. The words are obscured by their repetition, so the viewer cannot deduce their meaning with the naked eye. According to Houshiary: "It is like something coming into existence out of nothing and where the web has been punctured, there is an absence of breath." The torqueing of the membrane and the abstraction of the words themselves create a riveting tension in the composition and raise questions about physical presence and its effects.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: String
  • Artist: Shirazeh Houshiary (Iranian, born Shiraz, 1955)
  • Date: 2012
  • Geography: Made in England, London
  • Medium: Pencil, pigments, and acrylic on canvas and aluminum
  • Dimensions: Overall:
    H. 27 9/16 in. (70 cm)
    W. 27 9/16 in. (70 cm)
    Framed:
    H. 30 1/4 in. (76.8 cm)
    W. 30 1/4 in. (76.8 cm)
    D. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 2011 NoRuz at The Met Benefit, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.172
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Shirazeh Houshiary
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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