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Contemporary Art Gallery

555 Nelson Street
Vancouver, Canada
Open from Tuesday to
Sunday 12 pm → 6 pm

Admission always free
CurrentExhibition
18 Oct 24until12 Jan 25

Divya Mehra

B.C. Binning and Alvin Balkind Galleries

The work of Divya Mehra melds critical precision with biting wit to produce disarming, deceptively complex meditations on difficult subjects. With a canny visual language and piercing concision, Mehra’s works give unexpected form to trenchant observations on themes spanning racial violence, colonial theft, displacement, and grief, deftly layering nuanced critique with an acerbic humour.

In Live Laugh Love, Mehra presents a pair of new works aimed at the social landscape of the Pacific Northwest. On the walls of the B.C. Binning Gallery, a monumental monochrome painting anchors the exhibition. Offering a wry critical counterpoint to the work of late American artist Robert Ryman, Mehra renders in white-on-white a racist poster that circulated in suburban Vancouver last year, producing a ghostly space at once seemingly empty and laden with the ways whiteness operates, occupies and subsumes.

In the gallery opposite, Mehra has constructed a child-sized play structure assembled from nearly 1,000 yoga blocks. Modeled on a castle from Nintendo’s original Super Mario Bros, the sculpture rehearses references familiar to the region — leisure, wellness, safe spaces, tech — while asking to whom the benefits of these cultures might primarily accrue and, more pointedly, who might require safety from whom in this landscape.

Divya Mehra: Live Laugh Love is generously supported by the Friends of Divya Mehra.

Biography

Divya Mehra (b. 1981, Winnipeg) is known for her meticulous attention to the interaction of form, medium and site. Her works are a reminder of the complex realities of displacement, loss and oppression. Mehra’s work has been exhibited, screened and commissioned by Frieze Sculpture, Los Angeles; Creative Time, New York; MoMA PS1, New York; Queens Museum of Art, New York; MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA; CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco; Nuit Blanche, Toronto; and the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C. She has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, Times of India, ArtAsiaPacific, Hyperallergic, The Globe and Mail, and The Washington Post. Mehra’s work is in numerous public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Global Affairs Canada; and the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina. She is the recipient of the 2022 Sobey Art Award. Mehra lives and works in Seattle.

Black vinyl text on a white gallery wall leading into an exhibition, introducing the artist “Divya Mehra.” The exhibition title “Live Laugh Love" is written in strikethrough letters.
The front façade of a castle built from white yoga blocks, resembling a child's play structure. The castle sits in the centre of a gallery and occupies the majority of its space.
A castle resembling a child's play structure built from white yoga blocks, viewed from the front left. The castle’s top level sits atop a larger ground level with an arched entryway.
A castle resembling a child's play structure built from white yoga blocks, viewed from the front right. The castle’s top level sits atop a larger ground level with an arched entryway.
A castle resembling a child's play structure built from white yoga blocks, viewed from the back. The castle’s top level sits atop a larger ground level with an arched entryway.
"A close-up of parapets along the top of a wall, all made from yoga blocks. "
"A close-up of a wall built from yoga blocks with two cut out windows. In the lower foreground there are two yoga block parapets visible. "
"A close-up of yoga blocks stacked one on top of another to create a wall, resembling a brick wall pattern. "
" A panoramic view of an empty gallery with white walls and concrete floors. The side walls have white text painted on them, which is difficult to read. On the left, the word “Whites” is visible. "
"A white gallery wall with a paragraph of white text painted on it, which is difficult to read. The gallery is otherwise empty. "
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with a paragraph of white text painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light makes the top lines of text more visible.
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with lines of white text painted on it, which are difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the phrase “Are you looking for somewhere your children can play.”
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with lines of white text painted on it. The reflection of light reveals the phrases “spent amongst their own people” and “because they deserve it.”
"A close-up of a white wall with lines of white text painted on it, which are difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the word “diversity” in quotation marks below the word “schools.” "
A white gallery wall with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. Above the wall are five windows. The gallery is otherwise empty.
An oblique view of a white gallery wall below a row of windows with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the phrase “Whites-only”.
A close-up of a white gallery wall below a row of windows with white text painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the words “Join us for” at the top of the wall.
"An oblique view of a white gallery wall with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the word “Whites” arched across the wall. "
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the word "Moms" accross the bottom of the wall.
A detail of white text painted on a white wall. The angle of the light hitting the wall reveals the uneven contrast between the text and walls from the camera's point of view.

Documents

Essay: "The Tyranny of the Monochrome: Two Notes on Divya Mehra," Aruna D'Souzapdf73kbExhibition materialpdf68kbLarge print exhibition materialpdf75kb
Black vinyl text on a white gallery wall leading into an exhibition, introducing the artist “Divya Mehra.” The exhibition title “Live Laugh Love" is written in strikethrough letters.
The front façade of a castle built from white yoga blocks, resembling a child's play structure. The castle sits in the centre of a gallery and occupies the majority of its space.
A castle resembling a child's play structure built from white yoga blocks, viewed from the front left. The castle’s top level sits atop a larger ground level with an arched entryway.
A castle resembling a child's play structure built from white yoga blocks, viewed from the front right. The castle’s top level sits atop a larger ground level with an arched entryway.
A castle resembling a child's play structure built from white yoga blocks, viewed from the back. The castle’s top level sits atop a larger ground level with an arched entryway.
"A close-up of parapets along the top of a wall, all made from yoga blocks. "
"A close-up of a wall built from yoga blocks with two cut out windows. In the lower foreground there are two yoga block parapets visible. "
"A close-up of yoga blocks stacked one on top of another to create a wall, resembling a brick wall pattern. "
" A panoramic view of an empty gallery with white walls and concrete floors. The side walls have white text painted on them, which is difficult to read. On the left, the word “Whites” is visible. "
"A white gallery wall with a paragraph of white text painted on it, which is difficult to read. The gallery is otherwise empty. "
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with a paragraph of white text painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light makes the top lines of text more visible.
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with lines of white text painted on it, which are difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the phrase “Are you looking for somewhere your children can play.”
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with lines of white text painted on it. The reflection of light reveals the phrases “spent amongst their own people” and “because they deserve it.”
"A close-up of a white wall with lines of white text painted on it, which are difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the word “diversity” in quotation marks below the word “schools.” "
A white gallery wall with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. Above the wall are five windows. The gallery is otherwise empty.
An oblique view of a white gallery wall below a row of windows with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the phrase “Whites-only”.
A close-up of a white gallery wall below a row of windows with white text painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the words “Join us for” at the top of the wall.
"An oblique view of a white gallery wall with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the word “Whites” arched across the wall. "
An oblique view of a white gallery wall with a white text graphic painted on it, which is difficult to read. The reflection of light reveals the word "Moms" accross the bottom of the wall.
A detail of white text painted on a white wall. The angle of the light hitting the wall reveals the uneven contrast between the text and walls from the camera's point of view.