Icy and Sot is a contemporary Brooklyn-based Iran artist duo comprised of Saman Oskouei (b. 1985) and Sasan Oskouei (b. 1991). Since 2006, the two brothers have contributed to Iranian and international urban art culture through their striking stencil artwork that offering an idiosyncratic perspective on themes like human rights, ecological justice, fame, oppression, wars and dreams.
Their works hold a mirror up to modern-day Iranian society. They transcend their histories of artistic and political censorship by using public art to envision a world freed from borders, war and gun violence. The duo is not only controversial in their native country, but has even been banned there. Their success seems assured but not without sacrifice. Embracing their fame in New York, the duo has not given up a future in their native country in vain.
Their commitment is reflected in the materials that their artworks are made of: barbed wire, iron wire, old rusty shovels or oil cans. All raw materials that the artists divert and transfigure to give life to pieces of art that are full of poetry and fragility. They are content with reflecting the truth of our times through their own language without having the intention to lecture anyone, and turn it into a work of art. Their work appears on walls and galleries throughout Iran, USA, Germany, Turkey, China, Norway, and globally. Their works are collected permanently in the Moco Museum in Amsterdam and the Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art in Berlin. They also have a permanent public art intervention in Lisbon, Portugal.
