In the November issue of ArtForum, Charles Marshall Schultz reviews “Gag,” LA artist Analia Saban’s first New York solo show, which was at Tanya Bonakdar in October.
Saban’s
work is grounded in sensual characteristics of tactility and weight, so
it’s perhaps unsurprising that her subject matter often relates directly
to the body. In one piece, Saban casts a king-size bed sheet in white
acrylic paint and mounts the flowing form on a large canvas. She does
the same in Two Stripe Bath Towel with Tag and Stain-though
with the addition of the brown blemish Saban introduces another layer of
meaning. It gives the work a sense of personal history beyond any
conceptual or formal conceits. The stain, like the pinhole, functions as
a kind of wound on an otherwise pristine surface. Saban wants us to
notice these slight traumas, perhaps because they stand for a breach of
the body, which may itself signify the moment when we become most aware
of our physical presence in the world.
Images: Installation views, Analia Saban at Tanya Bonakdar.
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