MADE IN LA 2014 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: TALA MADANI

Made In LA., the biennial event at The Hammer Museum, is back and chalk-full of some of the most creative minds in the city. For those of you in the dark, the exhibition focuses on under appreciated artists by providing a platform for their work. The exhibition will feature 35 LA-based artist’s work across all traditional mediums:  paintings, installations, videos, sculptures, photography, and performances were all created specifically for the event, which will run until September 7th.

After generously perusing the roster for this year’s exhibition, it is clear that our pick for stand out artist, and whose work we are most excited to see at MADE IN L.A. is Tala Madani.

Studio Visit: Tala Madani from Frieze on Vimeo.

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[column][dropcap letter=”W”]orking and living in Los Angeles, Madani works in the medium of drawing, painting, and stop animation all with equal effectiveness. Her works on canvas and paper share a similar brevity; a sparseness in information which adds to the rich narrative she presents. She gives just enough to let the viewer play with the intent, curiosity is the driver of the multiple interpretations, one of the reasons we loved her work. The morbid humor was our entry way but the story was the cause of heated art discussion here at the LAC office.[/column]
[column]Her subjects are male, but that is all we are given in terms of reference. It’s unclear whether she is humiliating them, torturing them, or placing them in a consensual male-on-male situation. The world we are being presented is one in which judgement is suspended, that is for the viewer to ascribe, but isn’t it always. Is this a fantasy world or is this a men’s harem or bath house? Has Talan created a grey area for manliness in which men putting their hands on men does not have to be for torture or of a sexual nature? This is a larger topic that should definitely be had while the works are at view at Made In LA.

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