London's contemporary art scene is witnessing a provocative new exhibition that boldly merges artificial intelligence with scatological humour and feminist critique. Iranian-born US artist Tala Madani has unveiled her latest show at Pilar Corrias gallery, marking one of the first major London exhibitions to use AI as both creative tool and central subject matter.
Shit Mom Meets AI Daughter
The exhibition, titled Daughter BWASM (Born Without a Shit Mom), introduces a compelling new dynamic to Madani's ongoing artistic narrative. For years, the artist has developed her Shit Mom character - a deliberately unrefined, brown-smeared figure that subverts conventional ideals of feminine purity and maternal perfection. In this latest chapter, Shit Mom adopts an AI daughter, creating a powerful visual dialogue between mechanical perfection and human imperfection.
Madani's technique involves creating ultra-precise screen prints of AI-generated robots, which she then overpaints with loose, brown marks. The result is visually striking - works that are simultaneously glittery and gross, precise and messy. As the robotic daughter interacts with her adoptive mother across the canvases, her gleaming mechanical surface becomes increasingly streaked with filthy brown smudges, symbolising how care and nurturing inevitably leave their mark.
Artistic Rebellion Through Scatology
The artist employs deliberately childish and confrontational methods to make sophisticated points about societal expectations. These are not intended as decorative pieces but as satirical takedowns of norms surrounding motherhood, technology, and gender roles. Madani expands Shit Mom's narrative beyond maternal anxiety to confront technological fears and embedded sexism in our culture.
She poses challenging questions about why we gender machines as female and why cinematic robots often appear as idealized female forms. The exhibition traces these themes back to early modernist influences, particularly referencing Francis Picabia's 1916 painting Daughter Born Without a Mother and Marcel Duchamp's iconic Nude Descending a Staircase.
Multimedia Exploration of Themes
Beyond the paintings, the exhibition features two animated films that further develop Madani's critique. In one film, she inserts her Shit Mom character into experimental vignettes of nude women by pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge, effectively smearing what she sees as the objectified perfection of early cinematic experimentation. The other animation shows Shit Mom endlessly ascending staircases, though some critics find the AI theme becomes somewhat stretched in these cinematic pieces.
Throughout the exhibition, Madani consistently rejects, mocks and spurns societal norms and expectations. Her use of scatological humour serves as a form of rebellion - what might initially appear childish reveals itself as clever, aggressive, and subversive commentary on how culture and history have often treated women as mechanical automatons for childbirth and care.
The exhibition runs at Pilar Corrias gallery in London until 17 January, offering visitors a chance to experience this unique fusion of traditional painting techniques with contemporary AI technology, all while engaging with pressing questions about gender, technology, and societal expectations.
