# @drawingcenter on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwc4kxmB2oD
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/16044779-drawingcenter-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/acd1046631.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-04-19T20:56:15.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Drawing Center (@drawingcenter) — https://gondola.cc/drawingcenter

## Caption

Artists have a variety of methods to make their mark. Every Friday we will share a photograph of an #ArtistInAction.
.
Siah Armajani (b. 1939) is an American-Iranian artist whose poetic public art sculptures connect architecture with philosophy and the written word. Armajani’s earlier work included painting and works on paper, but no matter which medium, poetry has always been present in his art. “I use poetry because this is the only chance that I have to invite people to stay with my work,“ he explained “And I grew up memorizing poetry all my life in Iran. So I have a special love and affection for poetry.” Armajani grew up in Tehran and moved to the United States when he 22 years old because he was in political danger due to his activism against the Shah. When Armajani arrived in the U.S. he encountered the 1960s counterculture movement and became interested in the poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the egalitarian nature of architecture. “Emerson underlined the excitement, the unpredictable madness of America in terms of daily life. Unpredictable because the past is forgotten intentionally.” In Armajani’s manifesto for public art his last point is: “Leave philosophy for poetry,” and added that “Poetry rejects all reason. That is the nature of Persian poetry. The language public art should use is the poetic language.” “Siah Armajani: Follow This Line” is on-view at The Met Breuer through June 2, 2019, and includes a restaging of Armajani’s public art installation “Bridge Over Tree” presented by Public Art Fund.
.
#SiahArmajani
.
Image: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977.

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 364
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

siaharmajani, artistinaction

---
Copyright (c) Gondola