MONIR SHAHROUDY FARMANFARMAIAN | UNTITLED (C5)

The Third Line, Dubai 

Monir Farmanfarmaian (b.1922-2019, Iran) attended the Fine Arts College of Tehran before becoming one of the first Iranian students to study in the United States after World War II. She graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1949 and then became a Member of the New York Art Students' League (1950-53). Engulfed in the epicentre of the modern art world, it was here that she worked alongside many iconic contemporary American artists including Jackson Pollock, Frank Stella, Louise Nevelson and Andy Warhol, all who had an influence on her work.

Her distinguished career has spanned more than five decades. Incorporating traditional reverse glass painting, mirror mosaics and principles of Islamic geometry with a modern sensibility, her sculptures and installations defy easy categorization. The characteristic mirror mosaic of Monir's work is an Iranian decorative form known as aineh-kari, a technique dating back to the sixteenth century, when glass was imported from Europe and would often arrive broken. Along with drawings in felt marker, pen and ink, Farmanfarmaian has also used Plexiglas to combine her exploration of geometric forms with her long-standing interest in architecture in layered works of colored lines that explore the forms of nomadic tents, minarets, and models for architectural sculptures.

Her most recent solo exhibitions include, Sunset, Sunrise, Sharjah Art Foundation and Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2019 and 2018); Lineages, Savannah College of Art and Design Museum, Savannah, Georgia (2017); Infinite Possibilities curated by Suzanne Cotter, Fundação de Serralves, Porto (2014); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2015); Convertibles and Polygons, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2012) and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Mirror Mosaics, Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2007).

Her work has been included in several prominent group exhibitions including, Liquid City, Brugge Triennial, Brugge (2018); Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (2017); DECOR, Villa Empain, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels (2016); Seeing Through Light, The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Collection Opening exhibition, Manarat al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (2015); Iran Modern at Asia Art Society, New York (2013); Trade Routes, Hauser & Wirth, London (2013); Contemporary Iranian Art from the Permanent Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2012) and The Future of Tradition, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2010).

She has participated in four editions of the Venice Biennale, where she was awarded the Gold Medal in 1958, 1964 and 1966. She also participated in the 6^th Asia Pacific Triennial at Queensland Art Gallery, Australia.

Farmanfarmaian’s work is housed in several major public collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Jameel Collection, London; The Queensland Art Gallery, Australia; The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran; the Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah and the School of Law at Columbia University, New York.

In December of 2017, the Tehran University inaugurated the Monir Museum. Housed in the historic Negarestan Museum Park Gardens, the institution pays homage to her life and work.