1) Manual Grid; 2) Instruction Manual; 3) Double Head Index
Tala Madani, 2011
Tala Madani was born in Tehran and lives and works in New York and Amsterdam. Her work combines a delight in painting with an engagement with the aesthetics of post war Conceptual art and a disconcerting use of humour. These 3 works come from the 'Manual Man' series. 1) Manual Grid, depicts the heads of hapless men peering out from the grid like petty criminals trapped in eighteenth-century stocks; 2) The man reading his Instruction Manual similarly merges with his apparatus, becoming a part of his instruction manual in another play on 'man' and 'manual' that seems to mock masculine utilitarianism (main illustration); 3) Double Head Index depicts two headless figures, revealed in their mirrored reflections to be affixed to the one body, as one man covetously subsumes himself into the larger personality of the other. Presented by the Art Fund through the Art Fund International.
More information
Title of artwork, date
1) Manual Grid; 2) Instruction Manual; 3) Double Head Index, 2011
Date supported
2011
Medium and material
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
1) 223.5 x 172.7 cm; 2) 36 x 28 cm; 3) 25.4 x 35.6 cm
Grant
39836.55
Total cost
39836.55

Get a National Art Pass and explore Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
You'll see more art and your membership will help museums across the UK
National Art Pass offers available at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
10% off in shop
Enjoy 10% off in the shop with the National Art Pass
Expires: 1 Jan 2026
Art Funded by you FAQs
Contact us
If you have a question about a work of art in our archive, please contact the Programmes team. We’ll be happy to answer your enquiry.