Javier Téllez: Letter on the Blind for the Use of Those Who See

The work of Téllez reflects a sustained interest in bringing peripheral communities and ‘invisible’ situations to the fore of contemporary art. His work deals with institutional dynamics, disabilities and mental illness as marginalising conditions, and borderline collective and individual behaviours. His projects have often involved working in collaboration with people experiencing mental illness. His parents both being psychiatrists, Téllez has recurrently examined themes of psychiatric character bringing an autobiographical element to his work.

Téllez has exhibited widely in international contexts and his work has been presented by major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, InSite 05, Queens Museum of Art, P.S.1 MoMA, ZKM, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, as well as the Whitney Biennial, Moscow Biennale, Kwangju Biennale, Venice Biennale, Yokohama Triennale, Biennale of Sydney and Manifesta.

The Govett-Brewster’s Artist in Residence programme is offered in partnership with Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki and with support from Creative New Zealand.