Iranian Street Art

A gallery in LA is showing street art pieces from Iran.


Heather Murphy writes,

Iranian customs agents are extremely controlling when it comes to imagery. It was therefore surprising to curator Shervin Shahbazi, that they let the depiction of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's biggest rival, Mir-Hossein Mousavi (below), slip through without a hitch. Some less overtly political images were less successful in their journey to the U.S.

Those that made it are currently on display at the Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles. In an interview on All Things Considered today, Shahbazi, who organized the exhibit, called From the Streets of Iran, says he felt compelled to present a different image; one that didn't involve nukes or Ahmadinejad's awkward grin.
"It's not really about me or the other artists in this exhibit, but it's about paying attention to what goes on in Iran, because it might sound cliche, but people have to learn there are other things than a nuclear power plant and a president who's out of his mind."

Shahbazi went on to say that he did not know the artists behind many of the pieces. The images are evocative, powerful and really beautiful.

Shahbazi explained that "The youth of Iran are like fashion peacocks and their social defiance is basically their fashion revolution."