By Iranian artist Shirin Neshat from the ‘Book of Kings’ series: “The ‘Patriots’ consist of six large waist-length portraits of four men and two women, holding their hands in front of their hearts in a universal gesture of feeling and conviction. .... [The gesture] also reflects larger questions of identity, coupled with ideas of patriotism and nationalism.”

Neshat has inscribed verses from the “Shahnameh” (Book of Kings) on the subjects, which create a “lyrical homage to past and present Iranian history that also responds to contemporary politics in the Middle East, in particular the Iranian Green Movement of 2009 and the Arab Spring of 2011. The figures in this series stand for the thousands that have taken to the streets in protest across the Middle East.”

‘Nil, Nil #4,’ posted earlier: