Arghavan Khosravi: Currier Museum of Art

Arghavan Khosravi creates surrealist paintings that explore themes of exile, freedom, and empowerment. The artist’s enigmatic compositions center women protagonists and allude to the restriction of human rights, particularly those of immigrants. Her work is both semiautobiographical and universal.

At the Currier Museum of Art, Arghavan Khosravi showcases a range of new work created over the last few years, most on view for the first time. Khosravi draws on several cross-cultural stylistic influences, from ancient Western sculpture to the posturing of contemporary fashion magazines to the compressed perspective of Persian miniature painting. 

Arghavan Khosravi, Shelter, 2020. Acrylic on cotton canvas over wood panels, 15 x 22 in.

 Often using printed textiles from Iran as her canvas, she weaves the patterning of these materials into the narrative of her work. She further experiments with three-dimensional canvases, building her own shaped wood panels which add further depth and create optical illusions that augment the compositions.

About the artist

Arghavan Khosravi (b. 1984, Shahr-e-kord, Iran) earned an MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design after completing the studio art program at Brandeis University. Khosravi previously earned a BFA in Graphic Design from Tehran Azad University and an MFA in Illustration from the University of Tehran.