What do you think is the average time museum-goers spend looking at art? A study in 2001 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art indicated the average time spent looking at great works of art  was 27.2 seconds. Fast forward to 2017, when the Art Institute of Chicago conducted the same study and found an increase to 28.63 seconds.

I predict a current exhibition at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire, will skew the numbers of those studies. Upward.

Iranian artist Arghavan Khosravi’s first museum exhibition — at the Currier — won’t be her last museum show. She creates surrealist images that explore themes of exile, suppression and empowerment. Her enigmatic compositions center on female protagonists and allude to the restrictions of human rights, particularly those of women and immigrants.

Usually, I have no problem describing a piece of art — and its medium or expression, but Khosravi’s work is unique. Her work crosses lines and comes back again. She combines numerous mediums and themes. And whatever the outcome of her work — the final execution — will always make you think.

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