Rock, Paper, Scissors and a hard place

rock paper scissors

Jinoos Taghizadeh wanted to come up with a distinctive and thought-provoking work to mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. But rather than celebrating the event, the Iranian artist chose to illustrate the yawning gap between hopes and reality.

Taking contemporary Persian-language newspaper accounts of the overthrow of the shah and the rise to power of Ayatollah Khomeini, Taghizadeh embedded images from western works of art – the nightmare world of Hieronymous Bosch, Pieter Breugel‘s timeless Flemish peasants, the French revolutionary-era painter Jacques-Louis David. And on every frame she superimposed outstretched hands: open palms, fists clenched or fingers splayed wide – playing a deadly game of chance.

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