Symbiosis

TAG Gallery presents Symbiosis, a collaborative exhibition by abstract painter Sharon Cannon and photographer Don Saban, on view June 17 through July 10, 2026. An opening reception will be held June 20 from 5–8 PM, with an artist talk on June 27 from 2–4 PM.

Symbiosis explores what happens when painting and photography stop behaving as separate mediums and begin responding to one another. Working back and forth through multiple processes, Cannon and Saban layer, interrupt, alter, and rework images until something entirely new begins to emerge. Some works begin with Cannon’s abstract oil paintings, which Saban transforms through photography and digital manipulation. Others start with Saban’s photographs, printed on archival paper and physically painted over by Cannon. In every case, the final work becomes a shared visual conversation rather than a fixed collaboration.

The exhibition invites viewers to slow down and look closely. Surfaces reveal traces of revision, erased gestures, photographic fragments, and layers of paint that hold the history of the work in place. The pieces shift between abstraction and representation, often resisting a single interpretation. Seen in person, the physical textures and material contrasts become an essential part of the experience.

For Cannon, who came to painting later in life, the work is rooted in intuition, experimentation, and transformation. Saban brings decades of experience in fine art photography, education, and museum work, opening the photographic image to disruption and change. Together, the artists create work that feels active, layered, and unresolved in the best possible way—less about control than discovery.