Tala MADANI
Primer
2015
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
45.9 × 61.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased NGV Foundation with the assistance of David Clouston and Michael Schwarz, 2017
Gallery location
Gallery 13
Level 3, NGV Australia
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.