Rä Di Martino
b. 1975, Italy
Rä di Martino deals principally with our perception of reality and fiction, drawing attention to the absurdity of representing either. The artist’s background in theatre and her passion for film emerge not just in her videos, but in photographic and installation work. Sets, actors and props are used variously to pick apart subjects as diverse as human relationships, cinematographic traditions, the theatre of war, and the fabrication of history.
Di Martino studied in London where she graduated with an MFA at the Slade School of Art. She won a fellowship at Columbia University, spending a few years in New York, before moving back to Italy. Her practice explores the passage of time, as well as the discrepancies that differentiate epic narratives from lived experiences. Her works are characterised by a tension between pathos and a certain detachment: a disconnectedness that interrupts the synchronicity binding image and text.
Recent and upcoming projects include PLAY IT AGAIN, Forte Belvedere - Museo Novecento, Florence (Italy), Premio Acacia, Museo Del 900, Milan (Italy), Isolitudine, Fondazione Merz, Turin (Italy), curated by Laura Barreca.