Shahpour Pouyan
Projectile 82012

Not on view

Tall steel and chainmail ceremonial standard or reliquary with a domed finial, gold-banded shaft, and triangular feet decorated with silver inlay scrollwork

Artist or Maker: Shahpour Pouyan
Iran, born 1979, active United States
Title: Projectile 8
Date Made: 2012
Medium: Iron and brass
Dimensions: 72 7/8 × 32 1/2 in. (185.1 × 82.55 cm) Weight: 44.09 lb. (20 kg)
Credit Line: Gift of Emily and Teddy Greenspan
Accession Number: M.2020.94.4a-e
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Contemporary
Curatorial Notes: At 6 feet tall, Shahpour Pouyan’s sculpture Projectile 8 looks at once like a missile used in modern warfare and a medieval warrior standing at the ready. A battle helmet sits atop a cylinder of chainmail from which wings and fins protrude, resulting in a silhouette that accentuates the work’s anthropomorphism. The metalwork is finely decorated with calligraphy and ornate floral designs. It is an imposing construction, but also one that connotes an air of elegance. To produce it and other works from his Projectiles series, Pouyan worked with Iranian artisans trained in creating traditional armor ensembles for ta’ziya, Shi’ite passion plays whose anachronistically costumed reenactors memorialize the death of Imam Hussein.

Pouyan, now based in New York, was born in Isfahan the same year as the Islamic Revolution and his childhood coincided with the prolonged, bloody war between Iran and Iraq. At the same time, he developed an appreciation for the long and varied history of Persian art and architecture. His own practice reflects this dual fascination between militaristic force and refined cultural traditions like miniature painting or epic poetry, which he explores through various media including metalwork, ceramics, painting, and installation pieces. Central to his work is an examination of power and wealth, and in particular the ways that violence and patriarchy intersect with art and aesthetics.
Selected Bibliography: 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.
Çakir Phillip, Filiz. "A Reflection on Armour of Then and Now." In Iranian Art from the Sasanians to the Islamic Republic: Essays in Honour of Linda Komaroff, edited by Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom and Sandra S. Williams. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.
Porter, Venetia. "Shahpour Pouyan." In Iranian Art from the Sasanians to the Islamic Republic: Essays in Honour of Linda Komaroff, edited by Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom and Sandra S. Williams. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.
Copyright: © Shahpour Pouyan

Shahpour Pouyan
Projectile 82012

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Shahpour Pouyan
Iran, born 1979, active United States
Title: Projectile 8
Date Made: 2012
Medium: Iron and brass
Dimensions: 72 7/8 × 32 1/2 in. (185.1 × 82.55 cm) Weight: 44.09 lb. (20 kg)
Credit Line: Gift of Emily and Teddy Greenspan
Accession Number: M.2020.94.4a-e
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Contemporary
Curatorial Notes: At 6 feet tall, Shahpour Pouyan’s sculpture Projectile 8 looks at once like a missile used in modern warfare and a medieval warrior standing at the ready. A battle helmet sits atop a cylinder of chainmail from which wings and fins protrude, resulting in a silhouette that accentuates the work’s anthropomorphism. The metalwork is finely decorated with calligraphy and ornate floral designs. It is an imposing construction, but also one that connotes an air of elegance. To produce it and other works from his Projectiles series, Pouyan worked with Iranian artisans trained in creating traditional armor ensembles for ta’ziya, Shi’ite passion plays whose anachronistically costumed reenactors memorialize the death of Imam Hussein.

Pouyan, now based in New York, was born in Isfahan the same year as the Islamic Revolution and his childhood coincided with the prolonged, bloody war between Iran and Iraq. At the same time, he developed an appreciation for the long and varied history of Persian art and architecture. His own practice reflects this dual fascination between militaristic force and refined cultural traditions like miniature painting or epic poetry, which he explores through various media including metalwork, ceramics, painting, and installation pieces. Central to his work is an examination of power and wealth, and in particular the ways that violence and patriarchy intersect with art and aesthetics.
Selected Bibliography: 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.
Çakir Phillip, Filiz. "A Reflection on Armour of Then and Now." In Iranian Art from the Sasanians to the Islamic Republic: Essays in Honour of Linda Komaroff, edited by Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom and Sandra S. Williams. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.
Porter, Venetia. "Shahpour Pouyan." In Iranian Art from the Sasanians to the Islamic Republic: Essays in Honour of Linda Komaroff, edited by Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom and Sandra S. Williams. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.