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Javier Téllez
(b. Venezuela, 1969; lives and works in New York)
COMMISSIONED BY Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
Javier Téllez, One Flew Over the Void (Bala perdida), inSite 05. Photo: Alfredo De Stefano, courtesy inSite 05
The work of Venezuelan artist Javier Téllez reflects a sustained interest in bringing peripheral communities and “invisible” situations to the fore of contemporary art. His work deals with institutional dynamics, mental illness as a marginal condition, and borderline collective and individual behaviour. His projects have often involved working in collaboration with mental health patients or people living at the margins of society who at times are invited to contribute as participants. Seeking to address issues and conflicts between normalcy and pathology, his work exposes these in a non-didactic way. Both his parents being psychiatrists, Téllez has recurrently examined themes of psychiatric character bringing an autobiographical element to his work. His practice has developed mostly within the video and installation tradition, although it contains elements of performance and sculpture as well. Being research based and place specific, Téllez’s projects often dwell into the social and political histories of the locations where they develop.
Based in New York since 1993, Téllez has exhibited widely internationally and his work has been included in important exhibitions of major institutions including the InSite 05, Queens Museum of Art, P.S.1 MoMA, ZKM, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, as well as biennales such as Moscow Biennale, Kwangju Biennale, Venice Biennale, Yokohama Triennale, Biennale of Sydney and Manifesta.
One day sculpture project details to follow.
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