Video: An Introduction to the Iranian Modern Art Show Everyone's Talking About

Asia Society Museum's landmark exhibition, Iran Modern, which runs through January 5, 2014, in New York, focuses on Iranian art created during the three decades leading up to the revolution of 1979. Learn more

Step into Asia Society's latest exhibition, Iran Modern, and forget every preconceived notion you've ever had of Iran. Modernism, abstraction, calligraphy and tradition all exist side-by-side in a groundbreaking exhibition that showcases more than 100 artworks from the 1950s to the 1970s. The exhibition offers a glimpse into pre-revolution Iran, when the country had many connections to the global art community and artists immersed themselves in creative experimentation.

Hailed as "terrifically good-looking" by Holland Cotter in The New York Times, the exhibition also received accolades from The Wall Street Journal. The exhibition was curated by New York-based independent curators Fereshteh Daftari, formerly of The Museum of Modern Art, and Layla S. Diba, formerly of the Negarestan Museum in Tehran and the Brooklyn Museum of Art.  

In the video above, Asia Society Museum Director Melissa Chiu introduces audiences to the artistic world of 1950s, 60s and 70s Iran and discusses the variety of work featured in the exhibition.

Iran Modern is on view through January 5, 2014, at Asia Society Museum in New York City.