Mana Contemporary is pleased to present "In Between (Part II): So Far," the second exhibition of a two-part series of Iranian contemporary art, curated by Shahram Karimi. Opening on Sunday, October 15 at Mana Contemporary’s Fall 2017 Open House, the exhibition highlights the video work of six women currently working with this relatively new medium in Iranian art.

Over the course of several years, Iranian cinema has established its own unique and relevant voice on the global stage. Compared to cinema, however, Iran has yet to develop an established history of video art, and the genre is still a new phenomenon for Iranian artists—only recently emerging in the ’90s. It was during this time that Shirin Neshat, an Iranian-born artist, successfully straddled two cultures and received world recognition for her video, lm, and photography. Examining the trajectory of Iranian video art, the main question posed in this exhibition asks: What is the nature of contemporary video art as it has developed in the new millennium in Iran?

“In Between (Part II): So Far" seeks to recognize six women working to shape Iran’s canon of video art. This exhibition is a product of focused research on artists who use video to demonstrate a concrete artistic individuality, and further introduce character that is independent from cinema and other art genres. The show is the second part of an exhibition series of contemporary Iranian art curated by Shahram Karimi.

The first exhibition of this two-part series, "In Between: Contemporary Iranian Art (Part I)" was on view at Mana Contemporary from August 30–September 8, 2017, which featured artists whose work is not culturally explicit, but conjures cross-cultural themes. "In Between (Part II): So Far" adopts a similar approach, yet with a focus on a ten-year span of video art (2006–16). The exhibition offers six installations by six women that together serve to illuminate patterns, changes, and developments in Iranian contemporary video art.

The six exhibiting artists in "In Between (Part II): So Far" include Shirin Abedinirad (b. 1986, Tabriz, Iran), Bahar Behbahani (b. 1973, Tehran, Iran), Samira Eskandarfar (b. 1980, Tehran, Iran), Mandana Moghaddam (b. 1962, Tehran, Iran), Bahar Samadi (b. 1981, Tehran, Iran), and Jinoos Taghizadeh (b. 1971, Tehran, Iran). The Curator would like to thank Aaran Gallery in Tehran and Mahmoud Reza Bahmanpour, Managing Director of Nazar Art Publication, for their assistance with the exhibition.