Since arriving in the uk in 1972 she has emerged as a leading force in creative photography. Her autobiographical roots are intrinsic to her aesthetic. A photograph by the well-known photographer Brassaï shows her Jewish-Hungarian parents in Paris, where they married; her father was a left-wing architect, educated at the Bauhaus, and her mother an Unesco linguist.
Mahr's work is best summed up by a quote by John Stathatos: 'Drawing strength from European culture, she has the exile's sense of place and history, and an awarenesses of how they can both transform and be transformed by memory. She is also alive to the power of things - often ephemeral objects, insignificant in themselves, which may nevertheless carry a charge powerful enough to release memories and associations long since buried. It is on these two elements - the assumption of a shared European culture, and the talismanic power of objects - that her haunting photography tableaux are based.'
MARI MAHR
CV
Born in Santiago de Chile in 1941
1960's Journalism Diploma, School of Journalism in Budapest, Diploma.
Trainee press-photographer at the Cultural Department of the Hungarian News Agency.
Over the next few years Mari underwent a rigorous apprenticeship in photograph with some of the greats in Hungarian photojournalism including Endre Friedman and Gábor Pálfai.
1973 PCL BA Degree in Photographic Arts, PCL. Under Derek Drage, Gus Wylie, prof. Margaret Harker and Victor Burgin.
1980s LECTURER, Royal College of Art, Glasgow School of Art,Nabier University Edinburgh
AWARDS
1981 GLA (Greater London Arts Association)
1989 FOX TALBOT AWARD National Museum of Photography, Film & TV, Great Britain
1995 Best Exhibition of the Festival Award, Photosynkyria, Thessaloniki, Greece
2000 Best Exhibition of the Month of Photography. Budapest, Hungary
Her first solo exhibition took place at the Photographers' Gallery in London starting a long term association with the gallery which continues till today. Mari Mahr has also had long term professional connection with Zelda Cheatle who exhibited her work in her gallery and represented her for over 10 years.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 Boécho Gallery, London
2019 The Photographers' Gallery, London
2019 Boécho Gallery, London
2015 Dorset Place Gallery, University of Brighton, Brighton
• Mai Manó House, Budapest, Hungary
2014 Kunststiftung Poll, Berlin
• Hungarian House of Photography / Art Market Budapest
• The Photographers' Gallery Print Room, London
2011 City Gallery, Wellington New Zealand
• Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland New Zealand
• Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2009 Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin
2006 Architectural Association, School of Architecture, London
2005 Institute Français, Budapest, Hungary
• Kraszna-Krausz exhibition, National Museum of Photography, England
2004 Kraszna-Krausz Centenary exhibition, London-Szombathely, Hungary
• Librairie-Galerie Racine, Paris, France
2003 Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
2002 Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
2000 Bolt@Budapest Galéria, Budapest, Hungary
1999 www.zonezero.com Fotofo Gallery, Bratislava
1998 Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
• Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
1997 Verso Photo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
• Instituto Chileno-Britanico de Cultura, Santiago de Chile (Retrospective)
• Universidad de Salamanca, Spain (Retrospective)
• Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich, England
• Centro Andaluz de la Fotografica, Almeria, Spain (Retrospective)
1995 Photosynkyria, Thessaloniki, Greece (Retrospective)
• The British Council of Athens, Greece (Retrospective)
• Untitled Gallery, Sheffield, England (Retrospective)
•Porto Carras, Greece
• The Photography Centre of Athens, Greece
• La Villa Victoria, Mar del Plata, Argentina (Retrospective)
• Centro Cultural Parque de España, Rosario, Argentina (Retrospective)
• Teatro San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Retrospective)
1994 Montage Gallery, Derby, England
• Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, USA
• National Museum of Photography, Film & TV, Bradford (Retrospective)
• Magyar Fotógráfiai Muzeum, Kecskemét, Hungary (Retrospective)
1992 Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
1991 The British Council Gallery, Milan, Rome, Italy
• The Photographers' Gallery Print Room, London
• Les Atelier Nadar, Marseille, France
1990 Fotofest, Houston, Texas, USA
• Primavera Fotografica, Barcelona, Spain
• Visor Gallery, Valencia, Spain
• Gallery Agora, Turin, Italy
1989 The Photographers' Gallery, London
• Plymouth Arts Centre, England
• Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea, England
• Untitled Gallery, Sheffield, England
• Street Level Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
1988 Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
• Cupboard Space Gallery, Wellington, NZ
•Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth NZ
1987 The Photography Centre of Athens, Greece
1986 The Photographers' Gallery, London
1982 Moira Kelly Fine Arts, London
• Il Diaframma, Milan, Italy
• First Biennale of Photography, Caserta, Italy
1980 Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
• Serpentine Gallery, London (Summer Show)
1979 Light Factory, Charlotte USA
• Gallery ABF, Hamburg
• Gallery Art Something, Amsterdam
1978 Riverside Studios, London
1977 The Photographers' Gallery, London
• Canon Gallery, Amsterdam
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 "Hundred Heroines of 2020", UK
• "XVIII Biennale Donna", Ferrara, Italy
• "Femmes photographs Photo Poche", Actes Sud, Paris
2019 As Seen on Screen Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2018 The Blues, Boécho Gallery, London
• Hundred Heroines, Royal Photographic Society
2017 Donne & Fotografia, Udine, Italy
• Noir Sur Blanc, Boécho Gallery, London
2016 Echos: City, Society, Conflict & Self, Alma Gallery, New York
2014 HERE TODAY… Artwise for IUCN Red List, London
• (un)real - Maddox Arts, London
2012 A Tribute to Eve Arnold, Margaret Street Gallery, London
2011 Behind Closed Doors, The University of Auckland, NZ
2009 Au féminin, Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris
2008 What Happened Next? PM Gallery, London
• Kaleidoscope, National Gallery, Edinburgh
2007 Surreal Aesthetic, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
2006 Biennale Internationale di Fotografia di Bresca, Italy
• Bolt Gallery@Turlej Foundation, Krakow, Poland
2003 Birthplaces The Spitz Gallery, London
• The Auroral Light, The Grolier Club, New York, USA
• Pedras & Rochas em fotografia, Evora, Portugal
• Niños, Centro de Arte Salamanca, Spain
• Z15 (30x30), Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
• Static, Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland
• A History of Hungary, Proud Gallery, London
2002 Seeing Things, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• John Kobal 10th anniversary exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London
• Magyar Tekintet, Fotofest Spilimbergo, Italy
2001 Photosynkyria 2001, Thessaloniki, Greece
• Contemporary Hungarian Photograhy, Institut Français, Budapest
• Galerie Vrais Rêves, Lyon, France
• Season of Photography Nantes - Bolt Gallery, France
• Regard Hongrois, Palais Royale, Paris, France
2000 One Man’s Eye, Herbert Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell, USA
• Alchemy, Pamuk Bank Gallery, Istambul
• Those Who Came, National Museum of Photography, Hungary
• Staged and Manipulated , The Saint Louis Art Museum, USA
1999 The Flower Show, Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
• Into the Light, Royal Photographic Society, Bath, England
1998 Photographers Made in Hungary, Hungarian National Museum of Photography, Kecskemét
1997 Enigmatic Object, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
• On The Bright Side of Life, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
• Summer Show, FhE Galleries, Auckland, NZ
• History - The Mag Collection, Ferns Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull, UK
1996 Gender-Beyond Memory, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Japan
• Image de la Mère, Le Forum des Halles, Mois de la Photo, Paris, France
1995 Beyond Recognition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
1994 Who is Looking at the Family? Barbican Art Gallery, London
• Signals - Portrait of My Mother, Institut Français d'Ecosse, Edinburgh, London
1993 Los Angeles International - Paul Kopeikin Gallery, USA
• Desert Island Pics, The Photographers' Gallery, London
• Moving Into View, The South Bank Centre, London
• Summershow, Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
• Phiz 93, The John Kobal Foundation, London
1992 Realta e Surrealta, Aosta, Italy
• Mai de la Photo, Reims, France
• Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France
• Flora Photographica, Serpentine Gallery, London
• 2.Internationale Foto-Triennale Esslingen, Germany
1991 Contructed Photography, Padiglioni d'Arte Contemprania, Milan, Italy
• Die Vierde Wand - Photography as Theatre, Amsterdam
• De Composition - British Council Touring Show
• Electronic Age - National Museum of Photography, Bradford, Great Britain
• Treading a Fine Line, Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
1990 National Garden Festival, Gateshead, England
1989 In Celebration of Photography, Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London
• Through the Looking Glass, Barbican Gallery, London
• 1989 Anima Mundi: Still Life in Britain, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario
• Women Focusing, London
• European Women's Imagination, Palazzina Corsini, Rome
• Photo-Sculpture, Watershed Gallery, Bristol, England
1988 My Family - Myself Untitled Gallery, Sheffield, England
• First Biennale of Photography, Rotterdam, Holland
• Towards a Bigger Picture, V&A Museum, London
• Media Show, Sheffield, England
• Photography on the Edge, Haggarty Museum of Art, Wisconsin, USA
• My Family - Myself' Untitled Gallery, Sheffield, England
• First Biennale of Photography, Rotterdam, Holland
• Towards a Bigger Picture' V&A Museum, London
1987 Multiple Originals, The Photographers' Gallery, London
1986 Festivals: Domestic Stories, Camerawork, London
• Rencontres Internationales Photographiques, Arles, France
• New Acquisitions in Photography, V&A Museum, London
• Furniture-Sculpture, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
• First Biennale of Photography, Ein Harod, Israel
1985 Four British Photographers, Fay Gold Gallery, USA
• Landscape - Interior, Coracle Gallery, London
• Revisions, Cambridge Darkroom, England
1984 Multiple Images, The Photographers' Gallery, London
•European Colour Photography, Musées de Vienne, France
• Sky, Cambridge Darkroom, England
1983 Strategies, British Council (travelling)
• South Bank Show, London
• New Work by Nine Photographers, British Council
• Autographs, Cambridge Darkroom, England
1982 Private Views, Arts Council, London
1981 The Thin Line II. Mexico
1980 Photography as Art, Art as Photography, Kassel, Germany
• The Thin Line, Locarno, Switzerland
• Contemporary Colour Photography, Salford, England
1979 European Colour Photography, London
• About 70 Photographers, Arts Council, London
1978 Fantastic Photography in Europe, Amsterdam
• International Group Junij, Yugoslavia
PUBLICATIONS
A FEW DAYS IN GENEVA 1988 Travelling Light, London
ISOLATED INCIDENTS 1989 The Photographers' Gallery, London
MARI MAHR - PHOTOGRAPHS, A COLLECTION 1994 The National Museum of Photography, Film & TV, Bradford, Great Britain
MARI MAHR - MI HIJA, MI AMOR... 1996 Ediciones Universidad Salamanca, Campo de Agramante, 11
BETWEEN OURSELVES The Photographs of Mari Mahr 1998 Serpent’s Tail, London
SYMBOLS OF OURSELVES 2002 Zelda Cheatle Press, London
TWO WALK IN PARIS 2008 Fernbank Studio, Wellington, New Zealand
TWO WALK IN EDINBURGH 2011 Holloway Press, Auckland, New Zealand
ARTICLES
Camera, Switzerland August 1980
Creative Camera, London February 1980, April 1986, May 1986, August 1988, June 1989
Contemporary Photographers, Macmillan London
New Trends, The Gallery of Photography, New York 1984
Undercut, London 1985
History of Photography, Hamlyn-Bison, London 1988
The Missing Text, Chance Books, London 1991
London Magazine, June 1988
European Photography 43, July 1990
Picabia 12, Tokyo 1990
Via a Vis International, No 11, Paris 1992
Women's Art Magazine, London March/April 1992
Portfolio No20, Edinburgh 1994
Fotó, December 1994 Budapest
Photographia No33, Athens 1995
Contemporary Art Summer 1996, London
Blackflash Vol.14.2, Summer 1996, Canada
The Sun No.433, April 1997, Tokyo
The Photo Book, Phaidon Books, London 1997
www.zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/mahr/index.html
www.ecrits-vains.com/revue - dec 1999, jan 2000
http:www.lle.mdx.ac.uk/research/projects/dare - INIVA, London
ArtReview, May 2002
Portfolio, May 2002
Genis Aci 25, Istambul, 2002
The Undercut Reader, 2003
The Hungarian Quarterly, 2003
Schwarzweiss 48, Germany 2005
Contemporary Hungarian Photography, Bolt Gallery, Budapest 2005
Financial Times, London 2006
Studies in Photography, SShoP, Edinburgh, 2006
Mrs. Winter's Jump, Random House, New Zealand 2007
Two Walk in Paris, Fernbank Studio, New Zealand 2007
Les Arpenteurs de l'Europe, Actes Sud/Culturefrance 2008
Portfolio, Scotland, November 2009
Source Photographic Review, Ireland January 2011
Financial Times 14 January 2013