Brandeis Alumni, Family and Friends
Rose Artist-in-Residence Advocates for Iranian Women with New Exhibit
October 12, 2023
“Black Rain” is visual artist Arghavan Khosravi’s first comprehensive museum survey.
Photo Credit: Photo by Mel Taing. Courtesy of Rose Art Museum.
Arghavan Khosravi, the Rose Art Museum’s 2023 Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence, is known for creating enigmatic, surrealist works that shine a light on systems of censorship, power, oppression, and gender.
Her latest body of work, made during her residency at the Rose, shifts from the sculptural reliefs of the last two years to free-standing sculptures of women warriors and is on display now through October 22.
Titled “Black Rain,” the exhibition presents Khosravi’s artistic development, from the abstract work made in her student days at Brandeis to free-standing and hanging sculptures directly inspired by Iran’s “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, which calls for solidarity with Iranian women and girls advocating for human rights. It’s the Iranian artist’s first comprehensive museum survey.
“My work draws from traditional Persian miniature, but I’m not interested in perpetuating notions of cultural exoticism and portrayals of Iranian women as victims,” says Khosravi. “My paintings reflect the double life I led in Iran, adhering to Islamic Law in public while holding on to freedom of thought and action in private. However, my work is also a vehicle for shifting power, validating personal storytelling, and connecting to universal messages about human rights.”
In addition to serving as artist-in-residence with the Rose, in 2016, Khosravi completed a year-long post-baccalaureate studio art program at Brandeis. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with an MFA in painting in 2017.
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Arghavan Khosravi's exhibition "Black Rain" on display at the Rose Art Museum on Brandeis' campus. Several works of Khosravi are visible, including the exhibit's namesake, "Black Rain."Photo Credit: Julia Featheringill Photography. Courtesy Rose Art Museum.
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Several works of artist Arghavan Khosravi are visible in the Rose Art Museum's exhibition "Black Rain," including "The Enclosed Garden" and "The Orange Curtain."Photo Credit: Julia Featheringill Photography. Courtesy Rose Art Museum.
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"Black Rain" by Rose Art Museum Artist-in-Residence Arghavan Khosravi, the namesake of her exhibit at the museum and a piece she created in 2021.Photo Credit: Image courtesy of the artist and Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York.
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"The Orange Curtain," created by artist Arghavan Khosravi in 2022. It is one of several Khosravi works showcased in her new exhibit at the Rose Art Museum, "Black Rain."Photo Credit: Image courtesy of the artist and Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York.
The exhibition was curated by Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum. “Black Rain,” she says, showcases an artist who has “developed a unique hybrid style that pushes the boundaries between painting and sculpture.”
“Khosravi’s powerful feminist imagery could not be more relevant as we witness the Iranian regime’s extreme brutality in response to the brave resistance of women and artists chanting ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ in cities across Iran,” says Ankori. “Her richly symbolic works critically explore women’s oppression and their self-empowerment. The Rose Art Museum proudly presents this comprehensive survey, showcasing Khosravi’s immense talent and impactful art.”
The exhibition includes more than a dozen works by Khosravi. Alongside her work, the Rose will also display Persian manuscripts on loan from the Harvard Art Museums and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, showing Khosravi’s use and subversion of Persian miniature painting in creating her unique worlds.
The exhibit will be on view during Brandeis’ 75th anniversary celebrations, running October 13-15. During the weekend, Khosravi will join Ankori in conversation at the Rose Art Museum’s Mildred S. Lee Gallery.
– David Marino Jr., GSAS MA’19
