Ascension

At the center of this painting is the Buraq, a magical creature famous in Islamic tradition for carrying the prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem, and then to Heaven during the Night Journey, where he met with the earlier prophets and with God. In Persian art, the Buraq is often represented as seen here, with a woman’s face, a body like a horse, and beautiful wings.

The Buraq in Ala Ebtekar’s Ascension is flying in a sky filled with blue clouds and surrounded by falling bombs and missiles. She looks at us with a cryptic expression. The artist painted the work on pages from books of religious commentary, and some of the words leak through the imagery. How do you interpret this work? What do you think the Buraq’s expression suggests?

Ala Ebtekar is a contemporary Iranian-American artist whose work draws from the traditions of Persian painting, but mixes in elements from American pop culture, such as comic book illustration and graffiti art.

Born in Berkeley, California and deeply engaged with deejaying and hip-hop culture, he moved to Tehran, Iran when he was 19 to study painting. Beginning with traditional miniature painting, he shifted to a style of modern Iranian painting called "coffeehouse painting" (qahveh khanehei), rooted not in the elite literary world of miniature paintings, but in local popular culture.