Artspeak

Opening Friday, November 25, 8PM

Offsite: Aerial banner, Friday, November 25, 2:45 - 4:45PM, can be seen over Downtown Vancouver

Artist discussion with Randy Lee Cutler, Saturday, November 26, 2PM

Divya Mehra’s practice draws from experiences of displacement, cultural conventions, and hybridization, infusing a biting wit in the execution of her projects. Connecting political and religious icons with popular hip-hop culture, Mehra examines cross-cultural appropriations and the parallels between family tension and nationalistic conflict. Her work investigates the construction and misrepresentation of cultural identity while making reference to layered divisions and the disparity and exploitation of power. Engaging with decay, excess, and failed celebration, Mehra will present an exhibition comprised of new sculptural and photographic work and a performance by a local gospel choir.

Mehra is a multimedia artist who holds an MFA from Columbia University (New York), and a BFA (Honours) from the School of Art at the University of Manitoba. Her work has been included in a number of exhibitions and screenings across North America and overseas, including the Queens Museum and Lincoln Center (NY), BRIC Contemporary (Brooklyn), PLATFORM: centre for photographic + digital arts and Plug In ICA (Winnipeg), The Images Festival and A Space (Toronto), Groupe Intervention Vidèo (Montrèal), The Beijing 798 Biennale (Beijing, China), and Gallery OED (Cochin, India). In 2012, Mehra will create new work for the exhibition, Oh Canada commissioned by MASS MoCA . This is her first solo exhibition in Vancouver.

Whether through performance art, experimental video, photographs, recipes, interventions in gallery windows, or creative/critical writing, Randy Lee Cutler’s practice explores the aesthetics of appetite and embodiment. She has authored numerous essays published in C magazine, Pyramid Power, The Fillip Review, FUSE magazine, Vancouver Art & Economies, Uncanny: Experiments in Cyborg Culture, West Coast LINE, n.paradoxa, Backflash Magazine, Canadian Art and Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art on topics as diverse as digestion, truth-telling, orientalism, feminism, photography and social change. Originally from Montreal, she lives in Vancouver where she maintains an experimental relationship with pedagogy, gardening and reading.