Bindu Mehra is an intermedia artist currently pursuing her practise-led PhD at Slade School of Fine Arts, UK. Bindu is drawn to the theme of cultural displacement and identity, social histories and cross-cultural studies that are heavily influenced by transnational migrant experiences and by the interaction between people and space. Bindu is currently researching on how video as a medium can be exploited to explore individual and collective memories of traumatic historic events. Using semi-documentary format, she employs poetry, fiction, archival and found footage as methods to unfold memory, trauma, silence, and complicity. Set against backdrop of the partition of India in 1947, Bindu strives to represent, as Jacque Ranciere suggests, the political potential of the non-representable within art: as in the memories, trauma, silence and the complicity.
Born in India, Bindu lives and works between London, Delhi and Toronto. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Goldsmith’s University, London, UK and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA . Bindu has recently been awarded Jean Spencer and Malcolm Hughes Bursary to support her practice led PhD at the Slade School of Fine Arts, UCL, London. Bindu was short listed for Documenta 14 (Independent project) and at Tate Britain, London, UK (2009) and has exhibited internationally including at the Centro de Cultura Contemporanea, Castelo Branco (Portugal), Goethe Institute Max Mueller Bhawan, Bangalore ( India), Scope Art Fair, New York (USA), Alwan for the Arts and Leila Heller Gallery, New York, (USA), Maison de la culture de Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal (Canada), Blackburn Museum, Blackburn (UK), South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell (UK), Novas Contemporary Art Centre, London (UK), Chiang Mai Museum, Chiang Mai (Thailand), OZ Asia Festival Adelaide (Australia), British Council, New Delhi (India); and Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India. Bindu’s work has been featured in numerous national and international publications and has had the privilege of working with international curators such as Peter Nagy, Miguel Amado, Arshiya Lokhandwala, Jaishri Abichandani, Dr Outi Remis, Girish Shahne, Shirley Kanada to name a few.
Bindu has also been invited by the French Consulate as an artist in Residence to Paris and participated in Bonjour India: French Cultural Festival in India. She has received numerous Ontario Arts Council grants in Canada and has juried for the Ontario Quebec Residency in Canada. Besides her art practise, Mehra also runs a curatorial collective called ‘The Digital Silk Route’, which explores the transformational impact of migration, movement and globalization on individuals and societies through art. Hers works are included in a number of public and private collections including Jose Lima Collection, Devi Art Foundation, Blackburn Museum to name a few.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2005 – Wall of Differences, British Council, New Delhi, India.
2005 – Even Mary could not have Changed More, Phillips Contemporary, Mumbai, India.
2004 – Innocent until proven guilty, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India.
1999 – Meta-Psyche, Bradford Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia, USA.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 – European Dream, curated by Miguel Amado, Centro de Cultura Contemporanea, Castelo Branco, Portugal.
2018 – For I is someone else, curated by Miguel Amado, Centro de Artes de Águeda, Águeda, Portugal.
2018 – Amnesia, Goldsmiths University, London, UK.
2018 – Beyond the Standard Model’, Almanac Projects, London, UK.
2017 – Deptford X, Goldsmiths University, London, UK.
2017 – dOCUMENTA 14, Short listed for Independent Project, Kassel, Germany.
2017 – Good Food India, Goethe-Institut Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore, Daily Dump Bangalore; National Gallery of Modern Art Bangalore, India.
2015 – State of Origin: Reel and Imagined, Maison de la Culture de Côte- des- Neiges, Montreal, Canada.
2014 – Placement Displacement Replacement, OZ Asia Festival, Adelaide, Australia.
2012 – Cardinal Meridians, Lakereen Art Gallery, curated by Arshiya Lokhandwala, Mumbai, India.
2011 – Bon Appétit, Chiang Mai Museum, Thailand.
2011 – Home Spun Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA, curated by Girish Shahne.
2011 – Home Spun, Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India, curated by Girish Shahne.
2011 – Bon Appétit, Chiang Mai Museum, Thailand.
2010 – Imagine Art After, Short Listed, Tate Britain, London, UK, curated by Breda Bedan.
2010 – Kalakriti Camp, Invited for Bonjour India, French Cultural Festival in India, Hyderabad, India
2009 – Blacheborne Largo, Blackburn Museum, UK
2009 – Jam Cultural Congestions: Contemporary Asian Art, South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, UK, curated by Dr Outi Remis.
2008 – The Future Was Then…so now what?, Scope Art Fair, Lincoln Center, New York, USA.
2008 – …baby do you hear me?, Novas Contemporary Art Centre, London, UK.
2007 – Homespun, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA.
2007 – The Kitchen, South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell. UK
2007 – Asia-Europe Mediations, Poznan, Poland.
2006 – Rock, Gallery Art Trust, Mumbai, India.
2006 – In a State of Emergency? Women, War and the Politics of Urban Survival, Alwan for the Arts, New York, U.S.A. curated by Derrick Adams, Arshiya Lokhandwala and Uzma Z. Rizvi.
2005 – The Second Coming, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, India.
2005 – Ways of Seeing, Gallery Art Alive, New Delhi, India, curated by Dr. Sushma Behl.
2005 – Present-Future, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India.
2005 – Travancore House, New Delhi, India, curated by Johny M.L
2004 – Ideas and Images, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India, curated by Brinda Chudasama Miller, India.
2004 – Fleshed out and Lifting off, Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi, India, curated by Peter Nagy, India.
2003 – Dreams: Project Unrealized, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi, India, curated by Johny M.L.
2003 – Light Hearted, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, India, curated by Himanshu Desai.
2002 – Quotable Stencil, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, India, curated by Himanshu Desai.
2001 – Hot and Sticky, Painting Centre, Greene Street, New York, USA, curated by Shirley Kaneda.
A
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2016 – Artscape Gibraltor Point, Toronto, Canada.
2013 – 1 Shanti Road, Bangalore, India.
2012 – Vermont Studio Artist Residency, Fellowship, USA.
2011 – Sandarbh International Artist Residency, Rajasthan, India.
2009 – plAAY, Invitational Residency at Blackburn Museum, Blackburn, UK.
2005 – Residency in Paris, sponsored by the French Consulate, India.
PRESENTATIONS
2009 – Slide presentation, Chinese Art Centre, Manchester, UK.
2007 – Slides achieved at Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.A.
2006 – Slides archived at The Drawing Center, New York, U.S.A.
2005 – Slides archived at Jindal Foundation, Mumbai, India.
2003 – Slide presentation, International Institute of Visual Arts (inIVA), London, U.K, curated by Johny M.L.
2002 – Slide presentation, Chitra Kala Parishad and Kent School of Art, Bangalore, India.
2002 – Slide presentation, M. S. University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, Gujarat, India.
2001 – Slide presentation, Kanoria Centre for Visual Arts, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
2001 – South Asian Woman’s Creative Collective (SAWCC), New York, USA.
SCREENINGS
2014 – The State of Origin: Reel and Imagined, Ambedkar University Delhi, 1 Shanti Road, Bangalore, MS University, Vadodara, India, University of Toronto, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Canada.
COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
2009 – Blackburn Museum, workshops for the physically challenged visitors.
2009 – Blackburn Museum, workshops for students from Blackburn, age group – 5-8 years.
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2014 – The State of Origin: Reel and Imagined, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Toronto, Canada
2014 – The State of Origin: Reel and Imagined, Forum for Architecture, Culture and Spirituality, University of Toronto, Canada.
2014 – The State of Origin: Reel and Imagined, 1Shanti Road, Bangalore, India.
2014 – The State of Origin: Reel and Imagined, MS University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, India.
2014 – The State of Origin: Reel and Imagined, School of Culture and Creative Expression, Ambedkar University, Delhi, India.
GRANTS & AWARDS
2020 – Malcolm Hughes and Jean Spencer award for her research in India.
2012 – Ontario Art Council, Creation and Development Grant.
2012 – Vermont Studio Artist Residency Scholarship.
2011 – Ontario Art Council National and International Residency Grant.
2001 – Dean’s Scholarship, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.
2001 – Painting and Printmaking Scholarship, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA.
2000 – Painting and Printmaking Department Scholarship, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.
2000 – Teaching Assistantship, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.
1999 – Mentorship, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.
1994 – Merit Scholarship, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, India.
TEACHING
2000 – Drawing Instructor- Virginia Commonwealth University, USA.
2008 – Art Instructor (Supplementary), London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK.
1999 – Teaching Assistant – Pre-College Residency Program, Maryland Institute College of Art, USA.
INTERNSHIPS
2010 – Gallery Docent, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada.
2010 – Research Assistant Internship – Vtape, Toronto, Canada.
2010 – Gallery Assistant- Trinity Square Video, Toronto, Canada.
2010 – Information Agent and Art Assistant – Culture Days, Toronto, Canada.
COLLECTIONS
José Lima Collection, Blackburn Museum, Devi Art Foundation and private collectors in India and USA.
REVIEWS
https://aup.e-flux.com/project/bindu-mehra-the-line/
Review of Jam: Cultural Congestions in Contemporary Asian Art at South Hill Park Arts Centre by Tracey Jerome: www.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/517923
Review of Jam: Cultural Congestions in Contemporary Asian Art at South Hill Park Arts Centre by April Bateman:. www.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/518135
Archive Contemporary Asian Art in Blackburn with Darwen: https://plaayblackburn.wordpress.com/archive/
Review of Flicks Art Exhibition at South Hill Park by Joanne Seaton: http://www.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/385497
Asia-Europe Mediations: http://www.aem.art.pl/strony/1/e/71.php, curated Wonil Rhee..
Economic Times’, March 20, 2006.
https://aaa.org.hk/en/search/search/keywords:bindu-mehra
Sunday Hindustan Times, 19 March 2006. ‘area revues’, Paris, June 2005.
The Hindu’, Paris, 20 May 2005.
Tehelka the peoples paper, 19 March, 2005.
Indian express, 2 March, 2005.
Time out, February, volume 1, issue 12, 2005.
Art and Deal, Volume 3, Number 1, 2004.
Sahara Channel, Television Coverage, August 2004.
The Asian Age, 26 August, 2004, New Delhi.
Today, 20 August, 2004, New Delhi.
Asian Age, 20 August, 2004.
Art India, Volume 9, Issue 2, 2004.
Westside Plus, 22 May, 2004.
L’Officiel, April 2004.
The Pioneer, 2 March, 2004.
The Pioneer, 29 February, 2004.
Mid day, 28 February, 2004.
Statesman, 27 February, 2004.
Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2004. New Delhi.
The Tribune, Chandigarh, 13 February, 2004.: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040213/ncr2.htm
e’LAN, Quarter 2, Vol 4, 2003..
Mumbai Times, 27 March, 2003.
Mumbai Newsline, 26 March, 2003. Mumbai Edition.
Loksatta, 29 March, 2003, Mumbai Edition.