MAB is pleased to present SLEEP NUMBERS, by Anna Kell.

Interested in intersections of seemingly oppositional forces, artist Anna Kell typically explores
how binarisms—nature/culture, male/female, trash/glamor—are reinforced by cultural imagery
and narratives. Relatedly, Kell’s work foregrounds the rawness and authenticity of the
unconventional, everyday materials she uses while simultaneously reframing the materials within
(or as) spaces of painterly illusionism. This sensibility encourages a process of reorientation as
viewers must navigate the relationship between materials and images.

In Sleep Numbers, Kell presents a collection of explorations based on the sleeping figures found
in mattress advertisements. While the ads hinge on a logic of artifice that seems to prioritize
the complexity of individuals while subtly pitting them against one another, Kell uses the figures,
which maintain the original tension of sleepless nights and domestic disagreement, to expose
how even our most personal rituals and private moments have been commodified. The solution
is simple: a new personalized mattress! All you have to do is discover the sleep number that is
right for you.