The Loss of Our Identity #1 (Boy)
Sadegh Tirafkan
Arts of the Islamic World
Sadegh Tirafkan explores the layering of traditional and modern Iranian culture and the conflicts between Iranian and western culture in his photographs, collages, and video installations. In this photograph, the first portrait in a series entitled The Loss of Our Identity, the artist presents the viewer with a portrait of an Iranian youth in a white T-shirt with headphones, both attributes of western culture. His eyes, however, are hidden beneath a superimposed “curtain” created from a reproduction of a battle scene illustrated in a Qajar period Persian lithographed book. The image seems to question the deterioration of traditional Iranian culture in the face of an increasingly superficial world driven by new media.
MEDIUM
Chromogenic photograph
DATES
2007
DIMENSIONS
43 x 35 in. (109.2 x 88.9 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Arts of the Islamic World
ACCESSION NUMBER
2008.51
CREDIT LINE
Museum Expedition 1913-1914, Museum Collection Fund, by exchange
PROVENANCE
2008, purchased from Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York, NY by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Sadegh Tirafkan (Iranian, 1965–2013). The Loss of Our Identity #1 (Boy), 2007. Chromogenic photograph, 43 x 35 in. (109.2 x 88.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1913-1914, Museum Collection Fund, by exchange, 2008.51. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2008.51_PS6.jpg)
EDITION
Edition: 5/6
IMAGE
overall, 2008.51_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
© Sadegh Tirafkan
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