“Narges,” 48×44″, acrylic on canvas, 2025 — for Narges Mohammadi
Collective Z is honored to present Conviction, the first solo exhibition of paintings by Iranian-American artist Haleh Atabeigi — an homage to the women held in Iran’s political prisons, and a body of work rooted in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. The exhibition opens this Thursday, July 9, and remains on view through August 1.
At its heart is a series of large-scale acrylic paintings of garments, each representing clothing worn by a specific imprisoned woman — among them Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, and activists Sepideh Gholian, Vida Rabbani, Fatemeh Sepehri, Zeynab Jalalian, Zara Esmaeili, and Sarvenaz Ahmadi. Some have since been released with conditions; others remain captive. Rendered empty of their wearers yet charged with their presence, the garments stand in for women who cannot stand before us.
“Beauty and pain can co-exist in a strange space in our minds, where we can experience both simultaneously, and without contradiction… Through art, I hope to help grow an expanding mycelium of collective consciousness that can lead to freeing them all.”
“Niloofar,” 24×20″, 2025 — for journalist Niloofar Hamedi
“Sepideh #1,” 48×44″, 2024 — for Sepideh Gholian
“Vida,” 48×44″, 2025 — for Vida Rabbani
“Evin,” no. 1 to 27
Accompanying the garments is a collection of twenty-seven small canvases depicting handmade crafts made by women political prisoners inside Tehran’s infamous Evin prison. Because the originals cannot leave Iran, Atabeigi paints them — “as a way of transporting their essence here for us to feel and keep.”
“Time” — filmed inside
The exhibition also features a fifteen-minute video, directed by the artist remotely and filmed in Iran, documenting the crafts and the hands that made them. As Atabeigi writes, the prisoners “create handcrafted objects to ease the pain of time, and the agony of its unjust waste.”
Opening Reception
Thursday, July 9, 6–9 PM
Collective Z · 325 Broome Street, 1W, New York
Book Talk with Fatemeh Jamalpour
Thursday, July 16, 6–8 PM
Journalist Fatemeh Jamalpour joins us to discuss her book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran’s Women-Led Uprising (Pantheon Books), co-authored with Nilo Tabrizy and longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. Free copies will be available at the event for signing.
Exhibition Details
Conviction — Haleh Atabeigi
July 9 – August 1, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 9, 6–9 PM
Book Talk: Thursday, July 16, 6–8 PM
Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Saturday, 1–6 PM, and by appointment
Collective Z, 325 Broome Street, 1W, New York, NY 10002
Exhibition site: conviction-art.com
With conviction,
Alex Z. Wang
Founder & Director, Collective Z