Shirin Neshat, inadvertent narrator of history

Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat's dark kohl-lined eyes are immediately recognizable. Now she has brought their gaze on Iranian and Arab women's resistance against oppression to the most political of cities.

The Hirshhorn Museum's retrospective in Washington coincides with a diplomatic push to seal a nuclear deal with Iran, which has revived interest in relations between Tehran and the West.

The non-linear narrative of the exhibit provides a glimpse not just of Neshat's art and life, but also the trajectory of Iran in modern times, from the 1953 coup through the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the recent Green Movement.

"My work is the expression of my feelings and relationship to politics... the rise of anxiety and the joy of the prospect of peace," Neshat said.

At 58, the New York-based artist is unassuming and soft-spoken, her diminutive frame contrasting with the boldness of her work.

Although the self-described secular Muslim insists her exile is "self-imposed," her work is so controversial in Iran that it has yet to be shown there publicly. She herself has not returned since 1996.

The female protagonists in her video installations are constantly on the move, their lives at risk at every moment.

In "Turbulent" from 1998, a singer defies a ban on singing in public.

In "Fervor" from 2000, a woman dares seek the gaze of her beloved, while in 1999's "Rapture," women embark on a boat, leaving men behind, for what could be interpreted as either suicide or freedom.

Each video of the trilogy features split screens dividing men and women, a theme taken up in more mystical fashion in "Women Without Men," a five-part video series that was later made into a feature film.

"My...