ICY and SOT: A Tribute To Early Years in Iran

May 13 – 27, 2023
Sint-Jorispoort 28
Antwerp

Please contact us for available artworks by ICY and SOT, dating from early years.

Saman and Sasan Oskouei (ICY and SOT) grew up in Tabriz, Iran. At the age of 14 and 20 years old, the brothers would take their stencils to spray their images around Iranian cities to express their political visions. It was the easiest way for them to quickly display their story, without being caught by the authorities.

In 2011, they became friends with Manuela Klerckx and Oscar Van Gelderen. After online contact, they organized an exhibition in Amsterdam in 2011. ICY and SOT were however not allowed to travel to the Netherlands. It was in 2012, when they did an exhibition in New York, that they could finally leave their homecountry. When arrived in NYC, they decided to stay and continue their art.

In this exhibition, we invite you to their early works, made when they still lived in Iran.

“ICY and SOT’s work cracks open a windom into a world where children run free, women own all choices in their lives, and there are no guns, no borders, no hierarchies, and no war”.  – line from the book “Let Her Be Free”, written by Jess X. Chen.