Alum Maryam Taghavi Talks Language with Chicago Magazine

Chicago magazine profiled School of the Art Institute of Chicago alum Maryam Taghavi (MFA 2017) ahead of her exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Opening on December 20, Chicago Works, a series that highlights artists shaping the local art scene, will be exhibiting Taghavi’s first solo show.

Taghavi’s work explores language, abstraction, and Islamic occult practices. Inspired by her own bilingual upbringing, Taghavi often turns to Farsi to investigate the experiential nature of language and illegibility. Chicago Works will include a four-foot-long limestone sculpture that spells “nothing,” drawing on the practice of Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli.