Unveiling (from Women of Allah) 1993 — printed 2015
Artist: Shirin Neshat (b. 1957, Iran)
Technique: Ink on gelatin silver print, flush-mounted
Date of creation: 1993 — printed 2015
Dimensions: 149.6 × 100.3 cm
Edition / Authenticity: 10 + 2 Artist's Proofs, Signed, titled, dated 1993/2015 and numbered in ink on a label on the reverse
Description:
Unveiling (1993/2015) is one of the foundational works of Shirin Neshat's Women of Allah series — the body of photographs that established her as one of the most important artists working in the intersection of photography, identity, politics, and gender at the close of the twentieth century. A woman's face looks directly at the viewer from within a black chador, her gaze level, steady, and entirely unyielding. Across the chador and across her face, dense lines of Farsi calligraphy — poetry by Iranian women writers — flow in white ink, covering the image like a second skin or a veil within the veil.
The work operates with extraordinary precision on multiple registers simultaneously. The veil, here, is not absence but presence — not erasure but inscription, the text a form of identity rather than its suppression. The poetry written across the fabric and skin conflates body, language, and garment into a single surface, suggesting that the woman is not hidden beneath the text but constituted by it, that subjectivity is written as much as lived. The direct gaze — unmediated, unsmiling, confrontational — refuses the passivity the Western viewer might bring to the image of a veiled woman, replacing it with something that demands to be met on its own terms.
Neshat extends this exploration of political upheaval and Iranian womanhood into cinema with Women Without Men #1 (2009), a print drawn from her acclaimed feature film tracing the lives of Iranian women during the 1953 coup. A companion piece from the same foundational series, Unveiling Series #2 (1993), continues her signature fusion of photography and calligraphic text — both available now at Lynart Gallery.
FAQ
Is this an original Shirin Neshat work? Yes — an original gelatin silver print with hand-applied ink, flush-mounted, signed, titled, and dated on a label on the reverse, from an edition of 10 plus 2 artist's proofs. This example is numbered 1/10.
What is the Women of Allah series? Women of Allah (1993–1997) is Shirin Neshat's landmark series of large-format photographs in which the female body, the veil, and Farsi poetry are combined to interrogate the relationship between gender, religion, political power, and representation. It is widely regarded as one of the most important bodies of photographic work produced in the 1990s.
What is the Farsi text on the image? The calligraphy is poetry by Iranian women writers, hand-applied by Neshat in ink over the gelatin silver print — making each impression a unique handmade object within the edition.
What is the edition size? 10 impressions plus 2 artist's proofs — an exceptionally small edition for a work of this scale and historical significance. This example is numbered 1/10.
What does "flush-mounted" mean? Flush-mounting is a presentation technique in which the print is adhered directly to a rigid support with no overlap, creating a seamless, flat surface. It is the standard museum presentation for large-format photographs of this type.
Do you ship internationally? Yes — worldwide, with specialist packaging suited to large-format flush-mounted works, full insurance, and shipment tracking. Please contact us to discuss logistics.
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