Why I Paint Iran’s Feminist Icons

Peter Schjeldahl's time-travelling art criticism; Giulia Cenci on how to find your wild side; Jimmy Carr's theory of art  |

View this email in your browser Devotional and Cathartic 'The Iran I left as a teenager in 1978 was a far cry from the country that we see today, particularly for women', writes Soheila Sokhanvari this week on artreview.com. For her recent project, the artist has been painting miniature portraits of the glamorous idols of her childhood, from the actors Roohangiz Saminejad and Nosrat Partovi to the pop-icon Googoosh: feminist rebels who, since the revolution, were exiled, imprisoned and suppressed. 'For me, the process of painting them was an act as devotional as it was cathartic', Sokhanvari writes. As protests continue to rock the country, these snapshots of an alternative history reveal alternative futures – and the 'confidence that we will, eventually, prevail'. Elsewhere on artreview.com: Tom Whyman watches Jimmy Carr Destroys Art, a TV show which seems to be embarrassed about its own concept; Jonathan T.D. Neil bids farewell to the time-travelling 'poet critic' Peter Schjeldahl; Ren Scateni profiles the filmmaker Sylvia Schedelbauer and her experiments in building polyphonic, pulsating assemblages; Giulia Cenci talks to Ross Simonini on returning to the 'wild side of our behaviour'; Nathalie Olah scrutinises the artworld's reputation launderers; and Louise Darblay watches a new film by Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi, which imagines the lockdowns to come. En Liang Khong, Director of Digital To Be Visible 'There is always an alternative view to the histories written by power and oppression,' writes Soheila Sokhanvari, 'I wanted visitors to drink it in, to feel invigorated, to imagine through art other possible futures for the country ahead.' read now Putting Art to the Chainsaw Tom Whyman's problem with Jimmy Carr Destroys Art, a new Channel 4 show where celebrities debate 'problematic' art before resolving to destroy it, is that it never quite embraces its own sheer nihilistic pointlessness. read now Returning to Our Wild Side Giulia Cenci, who featured at this year's Venice Biennale, creates sculptural beings struggling into and out of life. "It's about the freedom of imagining," she tells Ross Simonini, "and it's about everything which cannot be killed by contemporary society." read now Time-Travelling Criticism Like a medium, Peter Schjeldahl channeled the waning days of modernism and the birth of something new. Jonathan T.D. Neil remembers the late poet and critic as he was: 'a time traveller, a stowaway from the Romantic age'. read now System of Obfuscation Laura Poitras's All the beauty and the bloodshed is a searing documentary portrait of Nan Goldin – and, for Nathalie Olah, a reminder of what is at stake in the artworld's complicity in laundering reputations. read now Experimenter Curators' Hub 2022 Save the date: the Experimenter Curators' Hub returns for its 12th edition, hosted in person, for the first time in two years, at Experimenter – Hindustan Road on 4 & 5 November 2022; in partnership with ArtReview. register now In The Mood For... Natasha Tontey This week we explore the workspace and influences of Natasha Tontey – currently on show at Auto Italia through 4 December – that encompass floating restaurants, Brad Pitt and Barbie. explore Polyphonic, Cinematic Assemblages Ren Scateni profiles Sylvia Schedelbauer, a third-generation 'veteran' of the Second World War who takes on silence, cultural dislocation and Orientalist myth in an increasingly experimental body of filmwork. read now Surrealist Working Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi's new film Remote, reviewed by Louise Darblay, imagines a future lockdown with a magnetic combination of nostalgia, the bizarre, and plenty of Rottenberg's trademark absurdist surrealism. read now Presidential Tokenism Tribal peoples are getting some of India's top governmental jobs – Droupadi Murmu is the first First Citizen of India from a tribal community – but, Deepa Bhasthi asks, does that signal any real change in their status? read now A Transmitter of Thinking A pair of exhibitions – of Gene Beery and Lily van der Stokker – at Parker Gallery, Los Angeles are playful and nuanced while stalking the movements of previous years. Terry R. Myers measures the magnetic force between the two. read now Not subscribed yet? Sign up to ArtReview's newsletters © 2022 ArtReview Ltd. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at www.artreview.com or the previous digital magazine website Our mailing address is: ArtReview Ltd. 1 Honduras Street London, England EC1Y 0TH United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.