Art News

The Stedelijk Museum Bureau Presents New Works by Tala Madani

artwork: Tala Madani - "Finding Zebra", 2008 - Oil on linen, 40 x 50 cm. - Private collection, not shown in this exhibition.


Amsterdam.- The  Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam is pleased to present ” Tala Madani : The Jinn” on view from December 10th through February 5th 2012. “The Djinn” is a powerful and elaborately constructed new body of painted, drawn and animated work by Tala Madani. Arab folklore and Islamic teachings depict the jinn as mythological creatures with magical powers who occupy a world next to our own, in which they intervene without restraint. By tracing the potential intrigues of these demons, Madani scrutinizes human obsessive behaviour and then skilfully sketches her observations – distinctly peppered with a dose of fantasy – upon canvases and sheets of paper. Madani’s work is characterized by an illustrative stroke of the brush, moving back and forth across the borderline between the clear-cut line of comic strips and an expressionist use of color. Her energetic compositions situate her figures in absurd scenes touching upon the non-rational aspects of human behavior. Many of Madani’s compositions are constructed as if taken by surveillance mechanisms, or candid cameras, which the figures depicted are conscious of, but ignored.