Hear from artist Shahpour Pouyan about his work, on view in the solo exhibition Winter in Paradise, which explores architectural symbols of power and the fragmentation and destruction of monuments in war. Works on view will include examples of the drawings and ceramic sculptures for which Pouyan is well known, plus his first virtual reality installation.

Shahpour Pouyan was born in 1979 in Iran and currently lives in London. He uses historical events and conflicts as a metaphor to address the abusive relation of political power with religion, heritage, and the environment in today’s world. Encompassing a wide variety of media, Pouyan’s work transforms historical and political issues into poetic visual form.

The annual Stoikov Lecture on Asian Art at the Johnson Museum is funded by a generous gift from Judith Stoikov, Class of 1963.

Shahpour Pouyan: Winter in Paradise was organized by the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, where it was supported in part by the 2022 Ellsworth Kelly Award, made possible by the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Its presentation at the Johnson Museum was organized in conjunction with the Migrations Global Grand Challenge, part of Global Cornell, with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative.