Maryam Taghavi
As a bilingual and native Persian speaker, Maryam Taghavi is fascinated with how language shapes our personal and collective perception. Through her work, she abstracts written text to convey meaning beyond legibility, disentangling linguistic forms from their intended function. This can take many forms from painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, publication, and installation. Born in Tehran, Iran, Taghavi draws inspiration from Persian calligraphy, talismans and facets of Islamic occult traditions. Her work carves out a space for the complexities of a diasporic memory to be remembered and held together. In 2023, she was commissioned by the City of Chicago to install a new sculptural piece at O’Hare’s International Terminal. Currently, her solo exhibition “هستى هيچ" on view at the MCA Chicago through July 2024. Taghavi has exhibited nationally and internationally at institutions such as LAXART, Queens Museum, Chicago Cultural Center, and Driehaus Museum, among others.