2002 Infinity Award: Art
Iranian artist Shirin Neshat was born in Qazvin in 1957 and now lives in New York. She is a visual artist who has gained recognition for her photography and film and video installations that express the complex philosophical ideas behind contemporary Islam. Her preoccupation with the representation of feminism, the veil and the interaction between so-called traditional and modern values have led her to produce intense and sometimes explosive work.
Neshat was included in the 2000 Whitney Biennial, the 2000 Biennale of Sydney, the 2000 Lyon Biennial, Carnegie International, and the Istanbul Biennale in 1995 and 1997. She has won critical acclaim and has been featured in major international publications such as the New York Times, Artforum, Bomb Magazine, Flash Art, The Los Angeles Times, Le Monde, and ARTnews. Neshat has received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix of the Kwangju Biennale in Korea, and the Golden Lion Award, the First International Prize at the 48th Venice Biennale.