Born in 1924 in the ancient Persian city of Qazvin in a grand old house replete with carpets, stained glass, nightingales, and gardens, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian audaciously left occupied Iran during World War II for New York, where she found herself in the company and friendship of Louise Nevelson, Frank Stella, Joan Mitchell, William De-Kooning and Andy Warhol. Monir became part and a product of New York's '50s artistic zeitgeist, eventually she returned to Tehran but she never stopped making art. Referencing her rich Iranian heritage with the rhythms of modern architectural abstraction with mirrors and reverse painted glass, her work celebrates the culture she loves and in turn welcomes the viewer into its surface. In addition to mirror mosaic wall-based reliefs and intricate sculptures, she has produced plexiglass sculptures, brush paintings, and drawings. Hans Ulrich Obrist became determined to meet Monir when many young artists in Cairo and the Emirates replied to his question, 'Who is your hero from the previous generation?' Monir 'was always the answer.'
Obrist's ongoing dialogue and lasting friendship is the foundation of this first monograph - a survey, a personal document, and broad spectrum of scholarly research on the eminence grise of Middle-Eastern art - Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian.