This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Iranian-born artist Tala Madani will receive the 2013 Catherine Doctorow Prize for Contemporary Painting, being awarded by the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation.
Madani will receive a $15,000 cash award, and her work will be feaured in a solo exhibition at UMOCA from Oct. 4 through Jan. 4.
"The engaging quality of Tala Madani's work is certain to initiate dialogue among our visitors," said Maggie Willis, UMOCA's interim director, in a statement.
Madani, 32, was born in Iran and is now based in Los Angeles. UMOCA describes her art thusly:
"Tala Madani creates drawings, paintings, and animations depicting humorously grotesque scenarios of male vulnerability and fraternal idiocy. Merging the satire of R. Crumb with the palette of Morris Louis, the language of her paintings oscillates between figuration and abstraction, seriousness and comedy."
Madani is the second artist to receive the Doctorow Prize, awarded biennially through a jury process to an innovative painter working in the United States. The previous winner was Kim Schoenstadt in 2011.