

Tala Madani
Talisman V, 2016
Oil on linen
51 x 43 cm
20 x 17 in
20 x 17 in
Copyright The Artist
on reserve for Caroline Freymond
on reserve for Caroline Freymond
Provenance
The doors are a series which came about when Tala return to the studio after the birth of her daughter. These doors represent the transitional space between her studio and the outside world, they are gateways between her personal and creative space. The use of a light source has become a central visual tool in many of Tala’s works, often light excretes from the body or from an exterior artificial source. Light for Tala serves as a tool of both knowledge and obfuscation, her light often floods the canvas so brilliantly as to blind rather than reveal, she makes us reflect on what is purposely concealed from view. The opening of a doorway has both positive and negative connotations, an opening and movement from a dark room into a light space yet what is in the light is unclear'Light as an artificial and special effect is central to many compositions, as in her ongoing Rear Projection series (since 2003). Her figures are the source of light, projecting content from their “solar anus” onto the canvas. According to Bourriaud, “[it reminds] us of a searchlight whose purpose is to leave nothing cloaked in darkness. It’s a police dragnet, a crime-fighting tool, an aggressive raid. In Madani’s work, light never shows anything; rather, it blinds the viewer like a spotlight: too bright, it impairs the gaze.”
Full review: http://www.flashartonline.com/2017/04/tala-madani-la-panacee-montpellier/
'For me, the painting as a square or rectangle always feels like a theatrical space. When I’m working, it feels like the painting is performing—and whenever you put something on a painting, you are giving it a metaphoric spotlight by painting it. I’ve kind of literalised that in my painting, by really giving it a spotlight. In my new work in Shitty Disco, the light is coming from the bodies of the characters. I’ve done that a few times—it’s not entirely new. So here you see disco lights coming from the ass, also shit coming from the ass, which I think is a reaction to what we’ve been going through this past year. We are in a shitty disco right now, with Brexit and the election here [in the US].’ From Tala Madani
Review: http://theartnewspaper.com/features/tala-madani-the-descent-of-man/
Exhibitions
Tala Madani: Shitty Disco, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London, 5 October 2016 - 11 November 2016Tala Madani, La Panacée, Centre de Culture Contemporaine, Montpellier, 28 January - 23 April 2017