By Claude Peck

Twin Cities artist Siah Armajani has a large piece of topical political sculpture on view in New York at Max Protetch, the Chelsea gallery. Titled "Murder in Tehran," the menacing piece is dominated by a large steel-and-glass structure resembling a giant satanic voting booth, complete with black curtain, buried body parts and the crucified figure of the Iranian woman, Neda, killed during protests earlier this year after the Iranian presidential elections. The 11-foot-tall structure has lines of poetry printed in bands across it--quotes from contemporary Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlu. For this small but powerful exhibition, Armajani, who designed the bridge connecting Walker Art Center and Loring Park in Minneapolis, also created seven pencil drawings on Mylar. They are inspired by Goya's drawings on the disasters of war. The show runs through December 23 in New York.

"Murder in Tehran" (image courtesy of Artlog)