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Nathaniel Mellors (born December 1974,
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
, England)
[Altermodern Tate Triennial. Explore: Participants]
Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
. Retrieved 19 February 2010. is an English
contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...
ist and musician.
[O'Reilly, Sally]
"Nathaniel Mellors: Monograph"
''Frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
'', February 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
Education
He studied at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
's Ruskin
Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art
The Ruskin School of Art, known as the Ruskin, is an art school at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division.
History
The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later became ...
, the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...
[ and the ]Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten
The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school supports ...
, Amsterdam.
Career
Mellors makes installations "packed with ad hoc sculpture, psychedelic theatre and absurdist, satirical film". Mellors' output includes installation, sculpture, film and video, music, performance, collage, painting, prints and critical writing.
He has exhibited in numerous group shows, including: 2012 "Radical Languages", Cricoteka, Kraków, 2011 ''ILLUMInations, 54th Biennale di Venezia'', Venice, Italy, 2011 "Un'Expressione Geografica", Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, 2010 ''British Art Show 7 – In The Days of The Comet'', Hayward Gallery, London & UK touring, 2009 ''Altermodern
Altermodern, a portmanteau word defined by Nicolas Bourriaud, is an attempt at contextualizing art made in today's global context as a reaction against standardisation and commercialism. It is also the title of the Tate Britain's fourth Triennial ...
'', Tate Triennial, Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
, London,[Griffin, Jonathan]
"The way in which it landed"
''Frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
'', 1 August 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2010.'','' and ''Deep Screen'', Stedelijk Museum CS, Amsterdam.
His work in the show ''Art Now: The Way in Which it Landed'', curated by Ryan Gander at Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
in 2008, was ''Thinking Rock Speaks'', an empty speech bubble made of steel attached to a lump of alabaster.Frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
'' magazine said that Mellors "gets the last laugh ... Sometimes there really is just nothing to say."Matt's Gallery
Matt's Gallery is a contemporary art gallery currently located in Nine Elms at 6 Charles Clowes Walk, London, SW11 7AN. Its director, Robin Klassnik OBE, opened the gallery in 1979 in his studio on Martello Street, before moving premises to Coppe ...
, London.
He teaches in the School of Art, Architecture & Design at Leeds Beckett University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten
The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school supports ...
, Amsterdam. He lives and works in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, London & Yorkshire, UK.
Projects
In 2009 at the South London Gallery
The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direc ...
, he put on a one night stage version of his film, ''The Time Surgeon''.[Lack, Jessica]
"Exhibition preview: Nathaniel Mellors/Superflex, London"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 3 January 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2010. Jessica Lack in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described the variety of styles and genres in his films, "skimming off a wide range of artistic references from prog rock to hit TV series ''The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'', with which he creates brilliantly offbeat installations".[
He was represented in the Tate Trienniel 2009, ''Altermodern'', by a work ''Giantbum 2009'', based on a story written by him about a party of medieval explorers who lose their way in the body of a giant.][ The work used film and animatronic heads.][ Searle, Adrian]
"Altermodern review: 'The richest and most generous Tate Triennial yet' "
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 3 February 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2010. Adrian Searle
Adrian Searle (born 1953 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is the chief art critic of ''The Guardian'' newspaper in Britain, and has been writing for the paper since 1996. Previously he was a painter.
Life and career
Searle studied at the St ...
in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' said: "There is a lot of bad acting and declaiming, a succession of dreadful puns, gags about a time-travelling Doctor Poo and Father Shit-mass, and some mock golden showers. Imagine the 120 Days of Sodom redone as panto.[
In summer 2009, Mellors was commissioned by the ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
to make a short "work of modern art" to introduce the final episode of the cultural history series ''
The Seven Ages of Britain'', presented by
David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby (born 28 October 1938) is an English journalist and former presenter of current affairs and political programmes, best known for having presented the BBC topical debate programme ''Question Time''. He is the son of broadcaster ...
and directed by Jonty Claypole. The resultant work ''The Seven Ages of Britain Teaser'' featured Dimbleby voicing a silicon mask cast from his own face, alongside actors
Gwendoline Christie
Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Fir ...
(as 'The Operator') and Johnny Vivash (as '
Kadmus'). The work was broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
on 21 March 2010.
In 2011, Ourhouse, Mellors' first major solo exhibition in a UK public institution, was presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. The exhibition included a three-part video installation alongside animatronic sculptures featuring characters from the films.
In September 2011, Mellors selected a playlist of music that inspires him in his work.
"Music was my way into art school. I was involved in music from my very early teens – tape collage and improvising with a microphone and an analogue delay pedal with friends. We had no technical ability at all. It was great! The experience of improvising with sound has been a handy touchstone ever since in terms of approaching art making. His playlist includes
Sonny Sharrock
Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed.
One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the fir ...
,
GZA
''Gary Eldridge Grice'' (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and The Genius, is an American rapper and songwriter. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both ...
,
Country Teasers
Country Teasers were an art punk band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1993.
Frontman Ben Wallers also performs solo as The Rebel. He plays live shows with a Gameboy backing-track or accompanied by Country Teasers bassist Sophie Politowicz on dru ...
and
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...
Mellors was nominated for the Jarman Award in 2012 and was the recipient of the Cobra Art Prize in 2011 and the Contemporary Art Society annual award in 2014. Presented by Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Creed, the £40,000 award goes towards creating a film forming the centrepiece of a 15 month exhibition on the themes of Samuel Beckett and The Theatre of the Absurd.
In 2013, Mellors completed a residency with the Hammer
Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, culminating in a 35mm short film titled ''The Sophisticated Neanderthal Interview''. The film toured to Dublin's
Temple Bar Gallery in 2014.
Personal life
In 2015, Mellors married
Tala Madani, an Iranian-American artist, in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. They have two children.
Solo exhibitions
*2018 "Progressive Rocks",
New Museum
The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
History
The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sch ...
, New York
*2017 "The Aalto Natives (with Erkka Nissinen)",
Finnish Pavilion,
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
2017
*2016 "Prequel Dump", The Box, Los Angeles
*2014 "NEW_CAVE_ART_NOW",
Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam
*2014 "The Sophisticated Neanderthal Interview", Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
*2014 "The Sophisticated Neanderthal Interview",
Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin
*2014 "Nathaniel Mellors – The Sophisticated Neanderthal", art:concept, Paris
*2014 "INTRUSION#1, Nathaniel Mellors – Ourhouse Episodes 1&2". The View, Switzerland
*2014 "Nathaniel Mellors",
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
*2013 "Nathaniel Mellors – Ourhouse", Galway Arts Centre, Ireland
*2013 ''Nathaniel Mellors & Jimmy Joe Roche'', Baltimore Museum of Art (2-person show)
*2012 ''Recent Collaborations Before THE SAPROPHAGE'', MONITOR, Rome
*2012 "Ourhouse Episode 3, 'The Cure of Folly'", Malmö Konsthall, Sweden
*2012 "Ourhouse E3 feat. BAD COPY", Salle de Bains, Lyon
*2012 ''Ourhouse E3 feat. BAD COPY'', Matt's Gallery, London
*2011 ''The Nest'', Cobra Museum, Amstelvee
Cobra Museum Exhibitions (Dutch)*2011 ''Artist's Statement Series: Nathaniel Mellors & Chris Bloor – :HYPERCOLON:'', SMART Project Space, Amsterdam
*2011 ''Nathaniel Mellors: Ourhouse'', I.C.A., London
*2010 ''Ourhouse'', De Hallen, Haarlem
["Nathaniel Mellors—Ourhouse"]
De Hallen. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
*2009 ''Giantbum'', Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam
*2009 ''Giantbum'', Monterhermoso, Vitoria, Spain
[
*2009 ''Giantbum'', Lombard-Freid Projects, New York
*2009 ''The Time Surgeon'', South London Gallery][
*2006 ''Hateball'', Alison Jacques, London
*2005 ''Hateball'', The Collective, Edinburgh
*2004 ''Profondo Viola'', Matt's Gallery, London
*2001 ''Black Gold'', Matt's Gallery, London
]
Music projects
In 2002, Mellors co-founded Junior Aspirin Records, a not-for-profit record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
releasing music by artists in limited editions. Mellors plays bass in the art-rock group Skill 7 Stamina 12 with Dan Fox, Ashley Marlowe and Maaike Schoorel, and has also released music with Toilet, God in Hackney, Mysterius Horse and under his own name.
*1989 The New Sharp (with Simon Johns)
*1990 – 1991 Autobutcher (with Simon Johns, Chris Barter, Ashley Marlowe and Grant Newman)
*1991 – 1993 Corridor (with Chris Barter, Ashley Marlowe and Grant Newman)
*1992 – 1999 Conemelt (with Ashley Marlowe and Grant Newman)
*2002 Prince Lightning
*2002 – present Junior Aspirin Records
*2002 – 2007 Skill 7 Stamina 12 (with Dan Fox, Ashley Marlowe and Maaike Schoorel)
*2003 – present God in Hackney (with Andy Cooke, Dan Fox and Ashley Marlowe)
*2006 Mysterius Horse (with Dan Fox)
*2008 – present Advanced Sportswear (with Dan Fox and Ashley Marlowe)
Collections
* Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.[
* De Hallen, Haarlem.][
* Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
* FRAC Occitanie Montpellier.
* ]Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
."Nathaniel Mellors"
Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
* Preston Harris Museum.
*National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum.
The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...
, Melbourne.
References
External links
Matt's Gallery: Nathaniel MellorsFrieze Issue 112, jan-feb 2008, Biennials, Surveys & RetrospectivesJunior Aspirin
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellors, Nathaniel
1974 births
Living people
British multimedia artists
British conceptual artists
English installation artists
English contemporary artists
English rock bass guitarists
People from Doncaster
Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art
Alumni of the Royal College of Art
Musicians from Yorkshire