Lot 109: Khosrow Hassanzadeh (Iranian, b. 1963)

Khosrow Hassanzadeh (Iranian, b. 1963)
Mother (from the Terrorist Series)
silkscreen, acrylic and mixed media on paper
118 x 78¾in. (300 x 200cm.)
Executed in 2004

Hassanzadehs series TERRORISTSis a protest against the pigeon-holing of Iranian artists. In these huge silk-screens, he portrays himself and his female relatives as terrorists. He created this body of work for an exhibition titled West by East in Barcelona, Spain. This exhibition was about how Westerners have been seen, past and present, by the Islamic East. The curator of West by East invited artists and intellectuals from the Middle East and Arab world to give their views of the West. Khosrow Hassanzadeh gave his answer by looking at himself in a Western mirror, and seeing the way he was looked at. He presents a self-portrait alongside portraits of members of his family; each one identified by name, nationality, age and profession and all under the heading Terrorist, as they might be described on a Wanted poster.