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Monir Farmanfarmaian: A Mirror Garden

July 1, 2022 | Michael Rooks

Coming soon! Opens November 18

Untitled (Muqarnas) by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, a shining work made from pieces of mirror and glass

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (Iranian, 1922–2019), Untitled (Muqarnas), 2012, mirror, reverse-glass painting, and plaster on wood, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from the Farideh & Al Azadi Foundation, 2019.174. © Estate of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian.

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1922–2019) was one of Iran’s most celebrated and revered visual artists, known internationally for her geometric mirror sculptures that combined the mathematical order and beauty of ancient Persian architectural motifs with the forms and patterns of hard-edged, postwar abstraction. The High Museum of Art will present the first posthumous exhibition of her work in an American museum with Monir Farmanfarmaian: A Mirror Garden. The exhibition’s title is borrowed from Farmanfarmaian’s 2007 memoir, co-authored by Zara Houshmand, which evokes the visual splendor of the artist’s mirror-mosaic sculptures composed of fragments of mirror and colorful painted glass in resplendent patterns. Painstakingly crafted objects on view will demonstrate the artist’s conceptual and technical virtuosity and her use of repetition and pattern.

Monir Farmanfarmaian: A Mirror Garden is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.