Sheida Soleimani

Sheida Soleimani digitally repeats, distorts, and pixelates a 2007 photograph of Reyhaneh Jabbari to a point of near absurdity. Cut and bruised phallic-shaped bananas accompanied by press-on nails underscore a pointed political commentary on gender-based violence. Soleimani’s alterations of the photograph echo the media’s disruptive distortions of Jabbari’s narrative.

Jabbari, an Iranian woman, was convicted of premeditated murder after she killed a man she insisted had attempted to rape her. The courts determined it was premeditated in part because they judged Jabbari too masculine, despite—as she insisted—her well-kept nails. Jabbari was sentenced to death by hanging, which drew widespread condemnation from human rights organizations. Despite this, Jabbari was executed in 2014.