Smiley has no nose
2015
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
152.5 × 152.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased NGV Foundation with the assistance of Anthony Adair and Karen McLeod Adair, 2017
© Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Rich in narrative and irony, Tala Madani’s work depicts darkly comic and often theatrical stories featuring bald, middle- aged men as the main protagonists. In each of these three paintings, any supposed authority of the men is undermined in a critique of power relations, including that of male privilege. Madani upsets art-historical conventions, openly embracing caricature, gags and disarming visual simplicity. Her approach demonstrates a contemporary sense of sequencing, movement and speed influenced by cartoons, cinema, videos and television.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Los Angeles, California, United States
Inscription
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen on reverse u.r.: (…illeg.) 2015
Accession Number
2017.200
Department
Contemporary Art
Subjects (general)
Human Figures Relationships and Interactions
Subjects (specific)
feminism gesture men (male humans) simplicity (artistic concept) undress
Movements
Contemporary (style of art)