Maryam Karimian Shirazi | "Simorgh": Dastan's Basement

Dastan is pleased to announce Maryam Karimian Shirazi’s solo exhibition titled “Simorgh” at Dastan’s Basement. The exhibition will be open for public viewing from March 2 through March 9, 2018. This is Maryam Karimian Shirazi’s first exhibition at the Basement. Her work was previously featured in a solo exhibition at Homa Gallery (Tehran, 2007) and numerous group exhibitions.
Maryam Karimian Shirazi (b. 1979, Tehran, Iran) is a graduate of painting from Faculty of Art and Architecture, Azad University (Tehran). A student of Ahmad Amin Nazar, she focuses on a particular subject in each period of her work, and continues work based on studies around that subject. This period of her works, consisting of a series of mono-prints done over the course of the recent two years, have been based on her studies on birds, which were later combined with her literary explorations in Attar’s ‘The Conference of the Birds’.
On this series of works, the artist writes: “If you want to have a better sense of life, watch and observe Nature. Nature, with its infinite variety, mesmerizes the human mind. Explorations of artists in Nature and their attitude towards the universe, creates and gives life to Art.
“I too, in every period of my life, have used my inner feelings, personal experiences and events to focus on particular subjects. For the last two years, I have been studying birds and reading Attar’s The Conference of the Birds (Mantegh-o-Tair) simultaneously, which has made my life more meaningful and colorful.
“Attar’s description of birds is still tangible and noticeable in today’s human nature. Qualities such as love, hate, anger, pride and lust define humanity. What inspires unity in this story is seeing flaws in human essence, and their lack of resistance towards them.
“Every human soul is like a bird

Some like to be caged, some like to fly

Some intelligent as an eagle or a phoenix,

Some asleep like a partridge.”