Shirin Neshat, I am its Secret, 1993. C-print, 19.5 x 13.2 inches (49.5 x 33.5 cm). Edition of 250. Signed, titled and dated.

Shirin Neshat, Iranian-born American, born in 1957 is considered to be the foremost visual photographer addressing the social, political and psychological dimensions of women's experience in contemporary Islamic societies. Although Neshat actively resists stereotypical representations of Islam, her artistic objectives are not explicitly polemical. Rather, her work recognizes the complex intellectual and religious forces shaping the identity of Muslim women throughout the world. As a photographer and video-artist, Shirin Neshat was recognized for her brilliant portraits of women entirely overlaid by Persian calligraphy (notably through the Women of Allah series) of which this image is based upon.