‘Eyes on Iran’ art activation in New York directs urgent attention to the United Nations
Including work by JR and Shirin Neshat, ‘Eyes on Iran’ is a group public art activation in New York timed for the UN initiative, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
![image of eye painted onto steps, new york skyline in background 'Eyes on Iran' against gender-based violence](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Tp5UFwv6LtTrqNJFihXVTS-415-80.jpg)
Unveiled on 28 November 2022, Eyes on Iran is a multifaceted public art installation, punctuating the spaces of New York’s FDR Four Freedoms State Park. Eye motifs have been staged in different scales throughout the park to examine the power of collective sight, with eyes facing the UN, signifying the world’s eyes on Iran.
In attendance at the opening ceremony for the exhibition, which took place yesterday, were former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, human rights lawyer and project director at the Atlantic Council Gissou Nia, as well as artists and singers supporting the liberation of women in Iran. The installation runs in line with both the UN initiative, ‘16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence’ (25 November until Human Rights Day on 10 December 2022). And with the goal to amplify the mission of ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ – a global campaign demanding that the Islamic Republic of Iran be removed from the Commission on the Status of Women, the UN's dedicated gender equality branch.
Sheida Soleimani, Mahsa, 2022. On show at New York’s FDR Four Freedoms State Park
Artworks in the park have been created by Iranian artists Sheida Soleimani, Aphrodite Désirée Navab, Z, Icy and Sot, Shirin Neshat, Mahvash Mostala, Sepideh Mehraban, and Shirin Towfiq, conceptual artist and co-founder of For Freedoms Hank Willis Thomas, and French artist JR.
Throughout the installation’s brief lifespan, billboards will be flown over New York on 3 December, and during Miami Art Week 2022 featuring works by Hank Willis Thomas and Mahvash Mostala. Within the park, an interactive installation by artist JR will take place on 4 December.
On the wider role of the show, artist Shirin Neshat remarks ‘many artists throughout the diaspora (...are presenting) our vision to ensure international audiences and institutions remain aware of what is happening in Iran and feel moved to respond.’
'Eyes on Iran' runs until 1 January 2022 at the FDR Four Freedoms State Park, New York. forfreedoms.com
Icy & Sot, Bricks of a revolution, 2022. On show at New York’s FDR Four Freedoms State Park
Z, Baraye, 2022, facing the United Nations building in New York. On show at New York’s FDR Four Freedoms State Park
Aphrodite Désirée Navab, Uproot the Roots, Rise up: Woman/Zan, 2022. On show at New York’s FDR Four Freedoms State Park
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Martha Elliott is the Junior Digital News Editor at Wallpaper*. After graduating from university she worked in arts-based behavioural therapy, then embarked on a career in journalism, joining Wallpaper* at the start of 2022. She reports on art, design and architecture, as well as covering regular news stories across all channels.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Nona Faustine confronts the past in New York
Artist Nona Faustine reframes New York's colonial past in an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Casa Bosques’ queer-themed book curation comes to New York’s East Village
In Pride Month 2024, Casa Bosques’ pop-up bookstore in The Standard hotel, East Village, offers a stylish haven for literary mavens
By Hannah Silver Published
-
‘Very few museums were interested in my work until recently’: Amalia Mesa-Bains on her first-ever retrospective
‘Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory’ is a long-overdue exhibition at El Museo del Barrio in New York celebrating five decades of the trailblazing Chicanx artist
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Frieze New York 2024: what to see in and around the city
Frieze New York 2024 (until Sunday 5 May) sees the city’s ample spring season programming celebrated at The Shed
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Calling NYC grads! Sarabande Foundation invites you to an industry masterclass to pave way into the creative world
‘What Now?’ by Sarabande Foundation is a post-college guide to support graduates in making their next steps, with advice from the likes of Burberry, Thom Browne, and more
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘I don't know what art is, but we have to make these things to understand ourselves’: Antony Gormley in New York
Wallpaper* meets Antony Gormley as his new exhibition, ‘Aerial’ opens at White Cube New York
By Hannah Silver Published
-
The New York art exhibitions to see in July
Read our pick of the best New York art exhibitions to see in July, from Jenny Holzer’s ‘Light Line’ at The Guggenheim to ‘Cosmography: an exploration of space and humanity’ at Templon
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
Surreal, uncanny, seductive: step into Graham Little’s world
Scottish artist Graham Little presents his first US retrospective at The FLAG Art Foundation in New York
By Hannah Silver Published