Rostam is the greatest warrior of the Iranian national epic—the Shahnama, or Book of Kings—completed in the early eleventh century but still read and admired even today. A new, contemporary version of the mighty paladin is represented in this print. Known as Rostam II, he has been recast as a bazooka-toting, bare-chested bodybuilder. Encircling his waist is a Dolce and Gabbana belt, from which hangs a mobile phone, and around his wrist is a Rolex watch; the letter R is displayed on his chest, covering an insignia reminiscent of the Superman logo. Only the masklike drawing of Rostam’s face, which includes his characteristic leopard-headed helmet, is a bow to past depictions of the legendary champion. Trained as a graphic designer, Siamak Filizadeh frequently and expertly uses the visual language of advertising not only to genially mock the consumerist ambitions of a certain segment of Iranian society but also to ironically highlight the official proscriptions on the imported luxury goods that they crave. In his series Rostam II, to which this print belongs, Filizadeh portrays the great Iranian mythical hero in the context of present-day Tehran. The only thing left unstated is which master this new Rostam serves.

• Komaroff, Linda. "The Return Engagement of Rostam," In Ferdowsi, the Mongols and the History of Iran: Art, Literature and Culture from Early Islam to Qajar Persia: Studies in Honour of Charles Melville, edited by Robert Hillenbrand, A.C.S. Peacock, and Firuza Abdullaeva, 381-90. London: I.B. Taurus, 2013.
• Milz, Manfred, ed. Painting the Persian Book of Kings Today: Ancient Text and Modern Images. Cambridge: Talking Tree Books, 2010.
• Komaroff, Linda. Collecting Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: A Curatorial Perspective. Los Angeles: Art Catalogues; LACMA, 2017.
• Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.