Monira Al Qadiri

"Considered one of the most important artists to emerge from the Persian Gulf region in recent years, Berlin-based artist Monira Al Qadiri's (born 1983) work examines petroleum-centric cultures, or "petro-cultures," where life and society are informed by the practices and discourses involving the consumption of, and subsequent dependence on, oil and gas. Published on the occasion of the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the United States, this publication highlights Al Qadiri's recent and newly commissioned artworks that range from surreal to melancholic, reflecting the intense and often astonishing scenes that make up the artist's real (and imagined) memories of her formative years in the Middle East. For Refined Vision, Al Qadiri was originally inspired by parallels of wealth and infrastructure between the Texas Gulf Coast and the Persian Gulf region. She poignantly invokes images and tableaus that will be familiar to both locales, in the hopes that themes will resonate and overlap. This publication includes a newly commissioned text by curator, educator, and scholar Amin Alsaden and an interview with the artist conducted by exhibition curator Tyler Blackwell"--