Sheida Soleimani

Sheida Soleimani (born 1990) is an Iranian-American multimedia artist, activist, and professor. Her works have generated conversations in the field of 'constructed' tableau photography, as well as the intersections of art and protest,^[1] with a focus on Iranian human-rights violations.^[2]

Sheida Soleimani was born in 1990 in Indianapolis, Indiana^[3] and she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.^[4] Her parents are political refugees who were persecuted by the Iranian government in the early 1980s during the Iranian Revolution.^[5] Soleimani has mentioned her personal experience as an Iranian growing up in America, which made her aware of the "stereotypes of Middle Eastern culture by the West" at a young age.^[6][7]

Soleimani received her BFA degree in photography from the University of Cincinnati in 2012.^[8][9] She continued her studies and received a MFA degree in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2015.^[10]

Soleimani's work highlights the relationships between powerful political people, groups, governments, and corporations, in order to raise questions from the viewer.^[6][7] The themes of her work are topics not often discussed in the West, for example, highlighting the women executed in Iran,^[7] and the relationship between power, exploitation and oil,^[11] among others. The work is often displayed as a photograph or video of a staged image, Soleimani uses various materials in the work including, soft sculpture "dolls", photography, props, masks, and cut-outs of digital prints.^[12]

Her work has gained international recognitions in exhibitions^[13] and on publications such as Artforum,^[14] The New York Times,^[15] The Huffington Post,^[16] Interview (magazine),^[17] Vice (magazine) etc.^[18] Soleimani has presented multiple series of works, namely Medium of Exchange (2018-current),^[19][20] To Oblivion (2016), and National Anthem (2015).^[2] Soleimani documented her experience during the COVID-19 pandemic with a series of photographs that were featured in The New York Times in 2021.^[21] In 2022, Soleimani participated in the group exhibition "Eyes on Iran" at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park, Roosevelt Island, New York; in response to the Mahsa Amini protests.^[22] Other artists in the "Eyes on Iran" exhibition included Shirin Neshat, Sepideh Mehraban, Shirin Towfiq, Icy & Sot, and Aphrodite Désirée Navab.^[22]

Soleimani is currently an Assistant Professor of Studio Art at Brandeis University.^[23][10] She previously taught at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).^[24]

• Official website