Soody Sharifi
Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven

© Soody Sharifi

Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
ArtistIranian, born 1955
CultureIranian
Titles
  • Stairway to Heaven
Date2004
MediumInkjet print
DimensionsImage: 20 × 27 1/8 in. (50.8 × 68.9 cm)
Sheet: 23 1/8 × 31 3/4 in. (58.7 × 80.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Joan Morgenstern in honor of Marisa C. Sánchez
Object number2007.225
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

Soody
Sharifi, an Iranian American, Houston-based artist, illustrates the
complexities of cultural identity through her work. Iran’s steadfast grip on
tradition often exists in tension with the globalized nature of the world.
Sharifi’s series Moslem Youth focuses
on Iranian teens as they navigate the two spheres, capturing the teens in
intimate moments of play, grooming, and introspection. Shot in
post-revolutionary Iran, the series challenges both Muslim conventions of
modesty and Western stereotypes of Iranian life.





The
title of this picture, Stairway to Heaven,
references the song by English rock band Led Zeppelin and, in a tongue-in-cheek
manner, depicts such a stairway. Conservative values and strict Islamic laws
forbid young people from dating in public, so they often meet in private.
Sharifi portrays that practice here, staging the photograph in an abandoned
house whose owners were among the many Iranians fleeing the country after the
1979 revolution. Although the scene is slightly taboo and rebellious, the soft
light and elegant spiral imbue it with a reassuring peacefulness.




Provenance[Houston Center for Photography, Houston]; purchased by MFAH, 2007.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in pencil, lower left below the image: "Stairway to Heaven 3/6"
Signature (?) in pencil, lower right below the image
Printed label on verso foamcore mount: "Live / 22. Soody Sharifi / Stairway to Heaven / 2004 / Archival inkjet print / ... / Courtesy of the artist / $1200"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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