Nathaniel Mellors Profondo Viola, 2004 (installation view)
Nathaniel Mellors Profondo Viola, 2004 (installation view)
Nathaniel Mellors Profondo Viola, 2004 (installation view)
Since September 1979, Matt’s Gallery has been inviting artists to make work for the space in which it is to be exhibited. Nathaniel Mellors produced Black Gold at Matt’s Gallery in 2001; a cavernous lounge containing eight different takes on TV formats, from nature programme and game show, to serial-killer documentary. Profondo Viola (Deep Purple) extends Nathaniel Mellors’ interest in mainstream entertainment, mediation and immersion, and more specifically entertainment in relation to gallery-based art.
Profondo Viola is a cluster of humorous and satirical 16mm film, video and sound works, sculptures, props and lighting effects. Writing and editing his own music and scripts, Mellors has constructed and processed his own artwork and draws on the work of others, such as critical entertainers and artists Jean-Luc Godard, Spike Milligan, Wyndham Lewis and Throbbing Gristle. All of his films have original, coherent and structured plots at their core that gradually disintegrate and unravel over time. Real and fictional characters wrestle with language and environments that are slowly breaking down. There are several characters that drive the work, including a ‘man’ that investigates the progressive rock genre as a cover for political evil (Lab 75). In Swiss Village – a socio-political manifesto against global politics set inside a local supermarket – an unknown voice makes a series of increasingly absurdist declarations repeated to the point of destruction by a beautiful foreign female subject. In parallel to the film works, an equivalent process of erosion and disintegration takes place within the music and other visual structures of the exhibition.
A swimming pool, fantasy grotto and other objects invite the opportunity for
meditation and retreat. Pools and caves are familiar sculptural devices in film
and theatre symbolising solace and escape. These props also have negative connotations
as sites for death, horror and destruction. Within a gallery/studio environment,
these sculptures are able to function on a number of levels, as immersive spaces
able to suspend disbelief, as formalist sculptures up for artistic scrutiny,
and as abstract containers. The Maggot - a sculpture ‘eaten from
within’, pinpoints the part vicious, part humorous and disruptive world
of Profondo Viola.
With thanks to: Holly Walsh, Darren Flook, Maaike Schoorel, Johnny Vivash
& SKILL 7 STAMINA 12
This exhibition has been generously supported by The Elephant
Trust, Arts Council England, The Henry Moore Foundation and Univerity of the
Arts, London.
For further information and visual material please contact the gallery
Born Doncaster, England 1974, Lives and works in London Studied 1999–2001 Royal College of Art, London and 1996–1999 Ruskin School, Oxford University Solo Exhibitions & Performances 2007 The Timesurgeon, Artsway, Sway, Hampshire; The Lowry Block, Berwick Gymnasium Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed (withdrawn) 2006 First Blood Japan, Performance at Ikebukuro Festival of International Art, Tokyo (Grizedale Arts Commission); Hateball, Alison Jacques Gallery, London 2005 Nathaniel Mellors/Maaike Schoorel/Ibid Projects, Vilnius, Lithuania; Hateball, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh; Brain One/Mózg Jeden, Galeria Potocka, Cracow, Poland; The Pink Mist, Playstation, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2004 Profondo Viola, Matt’s Gallery, London; The Landscape Critics Limp, Modern Art Oxford (with Ashley Marlowe); 2003 Prince Lightning – The Long Scratch, touring: The Changing Room, Stirling; Scotland, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh; The Brewery, Kendal [publication] 2001 Black Gold, Matt’s Gallery, London Selected Group Exhibitions 2007 2006 Minotaur Blood, Jonathan Vyner / Fortescus Avenue, London; OHR, (performance), Virtually Grizedale, A Foundation, Liverpool Biennale; Tokyo Rambo, (film screening), Virtually Grizedale, A Foundation, Liverpool Biennale; Tokyo Rambo, (performance), Grizedale Arts programme at the Ikkebukuro Festival of International Art, Tokyo, July; Sculpture Garden, Phoenix Garden, London 2005 Encore, Byuk Londra Oteli, Istanbul Biennial; If You're Feeling Sinister..., Alona Kagan, New York Offside, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane, Dublin 2004 Romantic Detachment, PS1, New York; Trailer, Man in the Holocene, London; No-How, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh; 2003 Pod War (The Landscape Critics), ‘Leave The Capitol’: Frieze Art Fair Film and Video Programme, London; We’ll Meet You In The Lobby, Londra Hotel, Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul; Someplace Unreachable, IBID Projects, London; Spiritual Hunger, Daniel Silverstein, New York; Senso Unico, Italia Telecom Building, Venice Biennale; Roadshow, Grizedale Arts and touring [publication]; 2002 Lets Roll, Apex Arts, New York; Junior Aspirin Promotional Video, Galerie Diana Stigter, Amsterdam; Band in Crisis (with SKILL 7 STAMINA 12), Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College, Dundee, Scotland [publication]; Nathaniel Mellors, Dan Perjovschi, A. Araminas, IBID Projects, London; It Rocks But Gently, Folly Gallery, Lancaster 2001 An Elephant Station, Vilma Gold Gallery, London 2000 Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2000, Milton Keynes Gallery and touring [publication]; Additional Research Into the Phenomenon, Glasgow Project Room, Scotland 1999 New Contemporaries ’99, Exchange Flags Building, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, South London Gallery [publication] Commissions & Residencies 2002-2003 Artist’s Work Residency, Grizedale, Cumbria 2001 Slot Art (with Barney Mellors), 3-minute commission for Channel 4, June
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2007 Skill 7 Stamina 12, Everett True, Plan B Magazine, March; The Compiler, Michael Bracewell, The Wire, March; Best of 2006, Jennifer Higgie, Frieze no. 104, Jan-Feb 2006 London, Eliza Williams, Flash Art International no.249, July-September; Artist's project, Untitled no. 38, Summer 2006; Nathaniel Mellors, Steve Beasley, Untitled no.38; Nathaniel Mellors, Martin Herbert, Artforum, May; Nathaniel Mellors: Hateball, Modern Painters, April; Prisoners of Art, Graham Hassell, What's On in London, February; Nathaniel Mellors, Guardian Guide, February; Jane Morris and Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper, Feburary; Hateball, AN Magazine, September; Hateball, Jessica Lack, Critic's Pick, Gaurdian G2, July 2005 Nathaniel Mellors interview, Jean Wainwright, Audio Arts Magazine; Volkskrant, Amsterdam, March; Nathaniel Mellors, Cameron Irving, Untitled, Number 33 Spring; Nathaniel Mellors, Sally O’Reilly, Frieze, Jan-Feb 2004 ‘Picks of the Week’, Craig Burnett, The Guardian, 25 October; Alt Rock, The Wire, August; Nathaniel Mellors, Martin Herbert, Time Out, 13-20 October; Marcus Field, Independent on Sunday, October; ‘Critics Picks’, Emily Pethick, Artforum Online, October; The Mighty Mellors, Arena magazine, September; ‘Agenda 06_04’, Arena magazine, June; ‘The Arena O2 X Club Nominees’, Arena magazine, Feb 2003 Someplace Unreachable, Edgar Schmitz, Kunstforum p.345/6, Nov/Dec; Roadshow Catherine Wood, Art Monthly, September; Prince Lightning The Long Scratch, ‘New Releases’, Rough Trade Records, 25 August; Mellors’ Music Man Art, Fashion UK Magazine, 22 August; Bootleg, Jessica Lack, The Guardian Guide, 12-18 July; Nathaniel Mellors, Robert Clark, The Guardian Guide, 28 June – 4 July; Prince Lightning – The Long Scratch, ‘Previews’ A-N Magazine, July; Rap Star from the Sticks, Richard Smirke, Metro, 13 Jun; Inside the Mind of a Pop Icon, Leigh Reporter, 12 June; 2002 Dan Perjovschi, Nathaniel Mellors, Tom Morton, Untitled, Autumn; Dan Perjovschi, Nathaniel Mellors, Gabriel Coxhead, Contemporary, July/August; Dan Perjovschi, Nathaniel Mellors, Morgan Falconer, ‘What’s On’, April; Dan Perjovschi, Nathaniel Mellors, Sally O’Reilly, Time Out, 1724 April 2001 London Pats Itself on the Back, Mark Harris, NY Arts, Vol.4, May; ‘London’, Dan Fox, Bujitsu Techu, May; Michael Ellis, Frieze, May; Michael Wilson, Art Monthly, April; Simon Pooley, Varsity Magazine, March; John McEwen, Sunday Telegraph, March; Nathaniel Mellors, Martin Herbert, Time Out, 14-21 March; Sinister Side, Stephen Palmer,[a-n] MAGAZINE, March; ‘Previews London’, Charlie Ayres, Art Review, Volume LIII, March; Black Gold, Simon Pooley, ‘Culture’, The Independent on Sunday, 25 February 2000 ‘Editor’s Letter’, Charlotte Mullins, Art Review, July/August; From Wit to Witlessness, Richard Dorment, Daily Telegraph, 28 June Catalogues 2000 Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2000 1999 New Contemporaries ’99 Published Writing ‘Revolutions per Minute, Nathaniel Mellors on Mark Leckey’, Frieze, October Publications/Multiples 2004 Profondo Viola, booklet (free with exhibition) pub. Matt’s Gallery, Oct; SKILL 7 STAMINA 12, Robotics With Strings CD, Junior Aspirin Records, May 2003 UNICEF Contemporary Art Diary 2004, UNICEF, Dec; Anyway, comic curated Morton / Patha, pub. Alberta Press, London, April; Prince Lightning – The Long Scratch CD/LP, Edition 1000, pub. Grizedale Arts, Sept 2002 SKILL 7 STAMINA 12/Zebra Zebra, 7 inch single, Edition 500, pub. Cooper Gallery, Dundee 2001 Black Gold Guide, multiple, collaboration with Dan Fox for Matt’s Gallery
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