Chennai Photo Biennale 2019: Shadi Ghadirian represents today's woman through computer icons

Iranian artist and photographer Shadi Ghadirian's exhibition 'Ctrl+Alt+Del' represents today's modern woman through computer icons.

The exhibition's concept note states: "They have transformed us. They have veiled us. Sometimes we hide behind them. Sometimes we get lost before them. Sometimes we scavenge them in search of lost loves. Through them, we sometimes escape the Real World. With one click, we sometimes get deleted."

"They have transformed us. They are not like our mothers. They are unique to our era; to today's woman in a modern world."

"They transform us. They organize us. The read and write us."

"'They' are tiny icons on our computer. They define us the way you now see, me, today's woman."

Born in Tehran in 1974, Shadi Ghadirian lives and works in Tehran.

Ghadirian studied photography in Azad University, Tehran, and has since exhibited extensively worldwide since 1999. Her works were put up at various renowned art exhibitions in Europe such as The Nikolaj Contemporary Art Centre (Copenhagen, 2000), House of World Cultures, (Berlin, 2004), Espace Electra (Paris, 2001), Centre for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (Spain, 2003), Thessaloniki Museum of Photography (Greece, 2002), to name a few.

Apart from Europe, Ghadirian's works have been exhibited at the San Jose Museum of Art (New York, 2004), Sharjah Biennale, 2003. She also gained international reputation with her Qajar Series (1998), which were reproduced in numerous magazines in Europe.

Her work is mainly concerned with the issue of contemporary Iranian female identity within the settings of tradition; the contrast between conservative roles attributed to women in society and the impact of modernity, as shown in both the Qajar series and Domestic Life (2002).

Her photographs are to be found in several public collections such as the British Museum, London; The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; The MUMOK, Vienna; the Georges Pompidou Centre, Paris; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California.