Nathaniel Mellors (born December 1974,

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, 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 UK ...

. Retrieved 19 February 2010. is an English

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

ist and musician.O'Reilly, Sally
"Nathaniel Mellors: Monograph"
''

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'', February 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2010.

Education

He studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

's Ruskin

Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art The Ruskin School of Art is the Department of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin School of Art grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later ...

, the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

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'', 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 En ...

, London, 2009 ''Contour 2009'', Mechelen, Belgium, 2008 ''Art Now'', Tate Britain, LondonGriffin, Jonathan
"The way in which it landed"
''

'', 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

in 2008, was ''Thinking Rock Speaks'', an empty speech bubble made of steel attached to a lump of alabaster. Jonathan Griffin in ''

'' magazine said that Mellors "gets the last laugh ... Sometimes there really is just nothing to say." Mellors is represented by The Box, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Monitor Video & Contemporary Art, Rome, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam &

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 on Martello Street, before moving premises to Copperfield Road, ...

, 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 Leeds city centre, city centre and Hea ...

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 direct ...

, 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 3 January 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2010. Jessica Lack in ''

'' 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 British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...

'', 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' "
''

'', 3 February 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2010.

Adrian Searle Adrian Searle (born 1953 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is an art critic for ''The Guardian'', and has been writing for the paper since 1996. Previously he was a painter. Life and career Searle studied at the St Albans School of Art (197 ...

in ''

'' 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." The work was also exhibited at the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

, Amsterdam, and a variant of it at Centro Cultural Montehermoso in Vitoria-Gasteiz. In summer 2009, Mellors was commissioned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019), and the First Order (Star Wars), First Order Stormtrooper (Star War ...

(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 channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

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. His first wife was 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. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both the first member in ...

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 ...

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 the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

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 The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. They have two children.

Solo exhibitions

*2018 "Progressive Rocks",

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-nam ...

, New York *2017 "The Aalto Natives (with Erkka Nissinen)", Finnish Pavilion,

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

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",

, 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 "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

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

, Los Angeles. * De Hallen, Haarlem. *

, Amsterdam. * FRAC Occitanie Montpellier. *

."Nathaniel Mellors"

. 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 (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

, 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 Musicians from Doncaster Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art