Untitled 1987

Here we see an untitled painting by Behjat Sadr, an Iranian artist who challenged convention. She spent time in both Iran and Europe. Her art reflects a dialogue between her cultural heritage and her experiences in the international art world. Sadr’s non-traditional methods and abstract style broke away from the expectations of women artists in Iran. The painting merges a photograph of a beach, bisected and mirrored, with an expressionistic wooden frame, rendered in thick, gestural strokes. The beach scene offers a serene, open space while the frame is dark. These act as barriers or perhaps framing devices. Sadr once said, "I seek to capture the dynamism and fluidity of life." This piece embodies that sentiment. It invites us to contemplate the interplay between nature and artifice, freedom and constraint, and the self and the world. Sadr pushes us to consider our own perspectives, and the boundaries we construct.