See Line Gallery is pleased to present Ami Tallman’s first solo exhibition, When the Sun Shines, It Does Not Need Proof.

This body of work by Ami Tallman muses on the shared qualities of gurus and dictators, in particular the aesthetic devices used by both to inspire awe and ecstatic devotion amongst their followers. Tallman’s practice draws on images and phrases culled from idiosyncratic research. As she sought materials for this show, Tallman observed a recurrence of charismatic leaders in the 20th century who employed extravagant and sophisticated spectacles to create new, insular societies comprised of fiercely committed followers. The movements these men created usually slipped into violence and paranoia, ending in purges of their inner circles, scandal, and dissolution.

With a lush use of color, Tallman’s use and choice of materials is promiscuous. She combines colored pencil, oil, and ink with other materials, on a wide range of surfaces, yielding a tactile variation which echoes her subjects’ shifts from beatific to vengeful, doting to aloof, delphic to precise. Her work is tinged with foreboding, and both broods and frets on themes of power, hope, bliss, and betrayal. Her whimsical line slips into doubt, its cheer faltering as it encounters gaps on the page. The resultant series of images includes depictions of pageants, expectant throngs, blissed out hippies, banks of microphones, banner-lined streets, shrines, thrones, and of course, gurus and dictators.

Ami Tallman lives and works in Los Angeles. She completed her MFA at Art Center College of Design in 2006. She has exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco and was featured in “15 Artists Under 35” in the May 2008 issue of Art ltd magazine. Tallman was most recently included in Against the Grain, a group show at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions that runs concurrently with this exhibition.