Maslen & Mehra

"Black Canyon Rd Mojave Desert", 2005 Photographed sculpture, medium format origination	"Eden Project work in progress: Postcards From Eden Postcard 1", 2003 Photographic montage 5" x 7"	"Glimmer Bishopsgate Goodsyard London", 2003	"Terra Incognita Artspace Sydney Residency/Exhibition", 2002

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Artist Statement

Tim Maslen and Jennifer Mehra belong to a new generation of experimental artists who are both extending the boundaries of contemporary art and at the same time questioning the assumptions that prevailed in the 1990s. In Britain, where much of Maslen and Mehra's work has been done, the experimental art of the 1990s was largely ego-driven. By this I mean two things. First that much of it was directly autobiographical, and centred on the adventures and traumas of the artist's own life. Cases in point are Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas. Second, that it often refused to look beyond the boundaries of the artist's own physical being. A celebrated example is Mona Hatoum's 'Corps Etranger', where the artist recorded the results of introducing an endoscope into her body.

In a series of brilliantly imaginative installation works, made from the year 2000 until the present, Maslen and Mehra have been pioneers of this new approach. Their output has been marked by scrupulous craftsmanship, but also by poetic sensibility. Their installation projects include 'Gorge' [Void Gallery, London, July 2000], 'Woodland' [Sydney Law Courts, September 2000], 'Interior Landscape' [European Forum for Emerging Creation, Lyon, France, January 2001], 'Drift' [Dilston Grove, London, August 2001], 'Terra Incognita' [Artspace, Sydney, April 2002], and 'Glimmer' [Chaos Exhibition, London, July 2002].

The more closely one examines these supposedly radical works, the more one tends to find that they are also embedded in pre-Modern traditions. Yet this in no way compromises their originality. The preoccupations they express are increasingly things that are being recognised as fundamental to the whole question of human survival on a threatened planet. The poetry they embody is entirely individual, and makes any encounter with them a memorable experience.Excerpt from essay written by EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH Perth International Arts Festival 2003

EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH is an art critic, curator, poet and photographer who has written books on contemporary art published in many languages. . Among his best-known titles are 'Movements in Art since 1945', 'The Visual Arts of the 20th Century', 'Art Today' and 'Art Tomorrow' [published in October 2002], a survey of the most recent developments in contemporary art which includes work by Maslen & Mehra.

Maslen & Mehra

TIM MASLEN Born 1968 Perth Western Australia

JENNIFER MEHRA Born 1970 London UK

Education

1993 - 95	Fine Art, National Art School Sydney
1989 - 90	Foundation Fine Art, City Art Institute Sydney

Selected Exhibitions

2005	February – March Western Biennale Of Art California USA curated by Edward Lucie-Smith February – March URBANBODIES London curated by Sue Cohen supported by Arts Council Of England
2004	Sept-Oct Splendid curated by Angela Meyer and Sonia Bruce Shoreditch London July-Sept Gods Becoming Men curated by Edward Lucie-Smith Frissiras Museum Athens 1st Jul-31st Aug Tempered Ground Museum Of Garden History UK curated by Danielle Arnaud and Jordan Kaplan May-July The Garden Of Earthly Delights Walled Garden Brockwell Park London curated by Indra Khanna May Art That Makes You Curious Shoreditch Tabernacle Hall London curated By Sue Cohen January – March The Royal Road To The Unconscious, Freud Museum London Project by Dallas Seitz
2003	August Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize Exhibition South Australian Museum Feb Phoenix, Perth International Arts Festival, holmes à court Gallery Perth Western Australia June Mirror II Nature Mile End Art Pavillion London June Chairman’s Choice The Nunnery Gallery London curated by David Dimbleby
2002	Feb-May Terra Incognita, Artspace Sydney July Chaos Bishopsgate Goodsyard London UK
2001	Aug/Sept film Drift screened at 291 Gallery East London UK Aug/Sept installation Drift at Dilston Grove (part of Bermondsey Artists Group) South London UK Oct Five Britain-Australia Society Australia House The Strand London UK Jan Exhibitor at the European Forum for Emerging Creation Lyon France
2000	Sept Woodland Installation, Sydney Law Courts during 2000 Olympics July Gorge Part one of a collaborative project VOID gallery London UK Keep off the Grass Lauderdale House Waterlow Park London
1999	Disturbed Worlds curated by Tariq Ali The Nunnery London UK
1998	Incognito Yuill Crowley Gallery Sydney Australia Debut The Nunnery Bow Arts Trust London UK Sweetie Levi’s Gallery Regent Street London Material Perfection Lawrence Wilson Gallery Perth WA
1997	M.A. Degree Show Goldsmiths University of London Immaterial Landscape Art Gallery of Western Australia Perth WA
1995	Beached Goddard de Fiddes Gallery Perth WA 100 Years of Sculpture Art Gallery of Western Australia Perth WA

Grants and Residencies

2004	Arts Council Of England new work grant award
2003	The Eden Project Cornwall 2 month residency
2002	Artspace three-month residency/exhibition Sydney February-May
2001	Artswa Grant for residency/exhibition in Sydney February 2002 The Henry Moore Foundation Grant Award for Drift project London Arts Grant award for Drift project
1999	Recipient of Pépinières Européennes Pour Jeunes Artistes residency (Açores) July-November 1999

Commissions

2005	King’s Mill Hospital Nottinghamshire commission sculpture installation
2004-05	Eden Project, Canopy project, ongoing
2003	June Permanent sculpture commission Waterlow Unit Health and Social Care NHS Trust, Kings Fund Project London Invited Proposal for Vodafone Head Quarters UK Perth International Arts Festival 2003 Festival commission
2001	(ongoing) Final artists selected for a series of sculptures for a new Docklands Light Railway station in East London
1999	Public sculpture, permanent siting at Praça Almeida Garrett Angra do Heroismo The Açores Portugal

Contact Information
Maslen & Mehra

www.voidgallery.com
maslenandmehra@voidgallery.com