Shirin Neshat. Women of Allah

Naples, Lucio Amelio, 1996. First edition. Oversized artist's publication, 49 x 34 cm, loose sheets, 12 pp. Ten sheets featuring photographs, printed b/w and some colour; two sheets with text by Diego Cortez and photo captions in Italian and English. Partial toning to cover sheets, light bend to lower right edge and a tiny abrasion; interior crisp. Extremely rare early publication of the series that became a key work in Neshat's career. No other copies traced. A different edition was published by Marco Noire Editore in 1997.

Shirin Neshat (b. 1957) is an Iranian born artist and filmmaker living in New York. Her pivotal early photographic series 'Women of Allah' explored the question of gender in relation to Islamic fundamentalism and militancy in her homeland.