Rachel Monosov
State of the Arts – Fusion of the Arts, The Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, Germany
Rachel Monosov
The Blind Leader, 2018
Preformance at State of the arts, 2020
Bundeskunsthall, Bonn, Germany
The exhibition presents one of the most exciting phenomena of our time: the fusion of performing and visual arts. Visiting an exhibition more and more often means not only expecting new visual impressions. Instead, the focus is on a comprehensive experience that appeals to all the senses. Artists combine video, performance, dance, language and music and in this way create intermedial works. This sometimes leads to the visitor having the opportunity to give up the viewer’s distant attitude and thus become part of the work himself.
The merging of the arts through the dissolution of the genre boundaries is a phenomenon in contemporary art that can already be identified in the 1960s. The variety of artistic possibilities was celebrated under the term Intermedia and the interaction of music, theater, visual arts and literature was tested. In particular the Fluxus movement with its happenings and the use of new media has shaped this expanded concept of art. In 2020, the unfolding of the artistic media in all conceivable areas has long become common practice. The exhibition brings together works that playfully move between the various artistic fields, such as performative sculptures, sound works and installation art, but also performances.
RACHEL MONOSOV (b. 1987)
Rachel Monosov works in performance, photography, video, and sculpture. By delving into cultural notions of alienation, territorial belonging, and identity, she reflects a rootless present rife with broader social implications. She constructs entire worlds around her subjects, which function pursuant to their own set of laws. Her personal biography is weaved throughout, loading the work with social and political concepts echoing historical events.
Monosov holds two MFAs from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent, Belgium, and her BA is from Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, Israel.
Since 2017, Monosov’s work has been included in exhibitions at BOZAR and Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Belgium, Kunsthaus Hamburg and Bundeskunsthalle Bonn in Germany, Art Institute of Chicago, National Museum of Art in Bucharest, National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, Serlachius Museums in Finland, Palazzo delle Espozitioni in Rome; and in three international Biennales: 11th Bamako Biennale, 13th Biennale of Dakar, and the Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale. In 2019, she mounted her first solo museum exhibition at Tarble Arts Center in Illinois. She was awarded the German Academy in Rome Praxisstipendium, two grants from the Goethe Institut, the Northern Trust Purchase Prize, and was shortlisted for the Mack First Book Award. Her work has been acquired into the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, Block Museum at Northwestern University, and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
Monosov is a co-founder of the CTG Collective, she grew up in Israel, studied in the USA and Belgium, and currently lives and works in Berlin.
BORN 1987
CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN BERLIN, GERMANY
EDUCATION
- 2016
MFA in Film, The Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK), Ghent, Belgium
- 2014
MFA The Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK), Ghent, Belgium
- 2010
BFA Photography, Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem, Israel
- 2008
The School of Visual Arts, New York
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2024
When All Is Still, Art Basel Hong Kong, Discoveries, with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery
- 2023
Dead Earth, A Place of No Escape, Centrum, Berlin; Curated by Jorgina Stamogianni
- 2021
LIMINAL, Academia Tedesca Rome Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy
- 2020
It’s All Written In The Stars, Galeria Catinca Tabacaru, Bucharest
- 2019
The Challenge of Realism, Performance in collaboration with Lisa Lapierre and Victor Dumont, Goethe Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam
We are Almost There, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, USA; Curators: Catinca Tabacaru, Rehema Barber and Michael Schuetz (catalogue)
Solo Presentation, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Art Brussels- 2018
The Blind Leader, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York
Rachel Monosov + Admire Kamudzengerere, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Paris Photo
Transcultural Transience (with Isaac Chong Wai), ACUD Galerie, Berlin; Curator: Karma Ltd. Extended
1972 (with Admire Kamudzengerere), Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York (catalogue)- 2016
Pastoral, AC Repair Co., Toronto, Canada
- 2015
Pastoral, Barbé Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
Effects of Displacement, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York- 2014
The Premier of the Audition Acts as Symbol, REH-TRANSFORMER, Berlin, Germany; Curator: Marcus Kettel
MUSEUM & BIENNIAL INCLUSIONS
- 2024
Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica,The Art Institute of Chicago (forthcoming)
Control, curated by Catinca Tabacaru and Raphael Guilbert, Goethe Institut, Bucharest- 2021
Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts, Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evenston, USA (catalogue)
VIDEO+RADIO+LIVE, Collateral Event to Art Encounters Biennial, Casa Artelor, Timisoara, Romania- 2020
State of the arts, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany; Curators: Johanna Adam and Miriam Barhoum (catalogue)
- 2019
Sublimi Anatomie, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy; curated by: Andrea Carlino, Philippe Comar, Anna Luppi, Vincenzo Napolano, Laura Perrone
Permanent Collections Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago; Curators: Antawan Byrd & Matthew Witkovsky
hybrID, Kunsthaus Hamburg; Curator: Anna Nowak
CTG-R: Finland, Aleksanterin Linna Gallery, Serlachius Museums, Mänttä, Finland; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru- 2018
The Rebel, Dak’Art, 13th Biennial of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal; Curator: Simon Njami (catalogue)
Meeting of the Minds, The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare
New Feelings: Transformative Play and Discourse on Photography from a Diasporic Perspective, CCAC, Portland, USA; Curator: Modou Dieng- 2017
Afrotopia, Bamako Encounters 11th Edition, Biennale of African Photography, Mali; Curator: Marie-Ann Yamsi (catalogue)
Europalia, BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium; Curators: Laura Herman and Charlotte Dumoncel d’Argence (catalogue)
Transcultural Protocol, performance in collaboration with Admire Kamudzengerere, Zimbabwe Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale; Curator: Raphael Chikukwa (catalogue)
Melodica, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium- 2016
Zig Zag Zig, The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare; Curators: Catinca Tabacaru & Raphael Chikukwa (catalogue)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- 2024
METAPHOR TO METAMORPHOSIS, KÖNIG GALERIE, Munich, Germany
- 2023
State of Emergence, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery at NADA East Broadway, NY; Curated by Lesia Kulchynska and Catinca Tabacaru
Glass Barriers, Galerie-im-Saalbau, Berlin; Curated by Beatris Wakaresko
FREUNDESKREIS, S6 project space Berlin; Curated by Omer Polak- 2021
Mutual Matters, Goldrausch, Fahrbereitschaft, Berlin
STAYCATION, Galeria Catinca Tabacaru + SANDWICH, Bucharest, Romania
10e PRIX JEUNE CREATION, Moulin des Arts de St-Rémy, France- 2020
Messe in St. Agnes #2, König Galerie, Berlin
K60 at Wilhelm Hallen, PSM, Berlin
Enter Through The Void, Campo Victoria, Ghent, Belgium
The Performance Show, Fondation AVL Mundo, Rotterdam; Organizer: Catinca Tabacaru, Curator: Zippora Elders- 2019
Hypermaremma Chapter II, ‘La Città Sommersa’ Antica Città de Cosa, Ansedonia, Italy; Organizer: Giorgio Galotti
All gifted, אלמסן / المخزن / Almacén, Jaffa, Israel; Curator: Netta Laufer
Casted, Plek, Ghent, Belgium; Curator: Meer Collective
Tenants, Giorgio Galotti, Torino, Italy
41st Jalovik Art Colony, Kuća Kralja Petra, Serbia; Curators: Branislav Nikolic & Catinca Tabacaru- 2018
Unknowing Knowns Knowing Unknowns: (UNFINISHED), National Museum of Art, Bucharest, Romania
CTG-R: Zimbabwe 2018, CTG Collective, CTG Harare, Zimbabwe
Fear of Change: true scenes and flat screenes, Site131, Dallas, Texas- 2017
Transcultural Protocol, ThalieLab Art Foundation, Brussels
An Orbit, The Drake, Toronto
Terra Nova, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York (catalogue)
Ležerna Razmjena Bez Panike, Charlama Contemporary Art Gallery, Sarajevo- 2016
Fragmented Time, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York; Curator: Rachel Monosov
Zig Zag Zim, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York (catalogue)
A perfect storm for business, The Governor’s Mansion, Ghent, Belgium; Curators: Liene Aerts, Wim Lambrecht & Wim Waelput- 2015
Devotion, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York; Curators: Catinca Tabacaru & William Corwin (catalogue)
Premio Carlo Bonatto Minella, Turin, Italy (selected artist)
La Vie mode d’emploi, Zwarte Zaal, Ghent, Belgium
Worlds of Nature, Ramfoundation, Rotterdam, The Netherlands- 2014
The Last Brucennial, New York; presented by Vito Schnabel and The Bruce High Quality Foundation
Kiss, Zona 30, Lima, Peru; Curator: Katie Peyton- 2013
Ever Ours, Beethoven Festival: LOVE, Merit School of Music, Chicago; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru
Special Project, Bit Map, Ghent, Belgium
100 Years in the Underground, Steichen to Sherman, Peanut Underground Art Projects, New York
Conventional Codes Of, Lambert Fine Arts, New York; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru
We Man, Bijloke, Ghent, Belgium- 2011
Hard Pop, ST-ART, Tel Aviv, Israel; Curators: Liora Belford & Serge Tiroche
Women’s Voices Now, Bradford Stewart Studios, Los Angeles; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru- 2010
Women on Women, Zik Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel
Third Eye/I, White Box, New York; Curators: Raul Zamudio & Catinca Tabacaru
Just Art 2010, Benefit for the NYCLU, New York; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru
SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS
- 2018
Vox Populi (billboard), Harare, Zimbabwe
- 2017
CTG Harare (architectural structure), Harare, Zimbabwe
- 2016
Impossible Meeting Point (sculpture), Pool’s Island, Canada
- 2015
Pink Village (community intervention), Harare, Zimbabwe
SCREENINGS
- 2021
Alternate Assembly: Environmental Impact in the Era of Pandemic, Daata and EXPO Chicago, Online
- 2019
Freedom in the Clouds, MAXXI Museum, Rome, Italy
- 2017
Melodica, cimmfest No.9, Chicago
Pink Village, dokumentArt, Neubrandenburg, Germany
Melodica, Bideodromo Festival, Bilbao, Spain (Second Prize for Experimental Film)- 2016
Pink Village, Joyce Yahouda Gallery, Montréal, Canada; Curator: Nicolas Mavrikakis
Freedom in the clouds, cimmfest No.8, Chicago- 2015
The Visitor, 44th Edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam_, The Netherlands
The Visitor, Het Grote Ongeduld Xtra!, Cinemathek, Brussels, Belgium- 2012
Careless You, Women’s Voices From The Muslim World International Film Festival, Global Tour to 22 venues throughout Jordan, Lebanon, UAE and USA; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru; Organizer: Suzie Abdou
- 2011
Careless You, Women’s Voices From The Muslim World International Film Festival, Los Angeles; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru
RESIDENCIES / SCHOLARSHIPS
- 2021
STIFTUNG KUNSTFONDS (Arbeitsstipendium), Germany
Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt, Berlin, Germany- 2020
Kunstlerhaus Lukas Scholarship, Germany
- 2019
German Academy in Rome, Villa Massimo (Praxisstipendium Fellow)
live.make.share – Undecided Productions, Hanoi, Vietnam (in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Vietnam)
Serlachius Museums, Finland (in collaboration with CTG Collective) (artist & organizer)- 2018
CTG-R: Zimbabwe, CTG Collective with DAI, Harare, Zimbabwe (artist & organizer)
Jalovik Art Colony, Serbia (in collaboration with CTG Collective)
CRIPTA747, Torino, Italy- 2017
CTG-R: Zimbabwe, CTG Collective with DAI, Harare, Zimbabwe
Triangle Arts Association, Brooklyn, USA- 2016
Thalie Art Foundation, Human Uplift Trust, India
Villa Lena Foundation, Tuscany, Italy
CTG-R: Newfoundland, CTG Collective, Pool’s Island, Canada
Dusangneuf Osangsett, Brussels
Museum Dhondat-Dhaenens, House Van Wassenhove- 2015
CTG-R: Zimbabwe, CTG Collective with DAI, Harare, Zimbabwe
AWARDS & PRIZES
- 2020
Ise-Agustin Foundation Scholarship, Germany
- 2019
MACK First Book Award (shortlist)
- 2017
Europalia Curator’s Award (Selected Artist), Belgium; Curators: Laura Herman & Charlotte Dumoncel d’Argence
Northern Trust Purchase Prize, EXPO Chicago presentation with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery
Second Prize for Experimental Film, Bideodromo Festival, Bilbao, Spain
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, USA
National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare
Beth Rudin DeWoody, USA
Foundation Blachère, France
ST-ART and Africa First, Serge Tiroche Collections, Israel
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & TEACHING WORKSHOPS
- 2019
Utopías y Heterotopías, Universidad del Pais Vasco, Bilbao, Spain
Utopías y Heterotopías, Arte Ederren Fakultatea/ Faculted de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain- 2018
The Political in the Poetical (3-day workshop), Bideodromo Festival, Bilbao, Spain
- 2017
Filmmakers Panel, dokumentArt, Neubrandenburg, Germany
Photography & Film (3-week workshop with Lisa Lapierre), Trichirapalli, India; organized by Thalie Art Foundation
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aristide, Ramona, Din singurătatea ecosistemului (“From the solitude of the ecosystem”), Observator Cultural, 19 January 2021
Wilson, Jacob Charles. “Ten Photographers to Have on Your Radar in 2019.” AnOther, AnOther Magazine, 10 May 2019
Canestrelli, Greta, Spazi Angusti, Intervista all’artista russo-israeliana Rachel Monosov, Yanez Magazine, 24 September 2018
Twersky, Carolyn, Two Artists Rewriting the History of Interracial Marriage in Africa, New York Magazine, 26 March 2018
Pauline Doutreluingne and Petra Poelzl, Transcultural Transience by Karma Ltd. Extended, Art Berlin, 5 April 2018
Joyce, Beatrix, Exhibition // Karma Ltd. Extended’s ‘Transcultural Transience’ at ACUD Galerie, BERLINARTLINK, 31 March 2018
Furtado, Will, Where Drawing and Performance Meet, Contemporary&, 8 December 2017
Cohen, Alina, Amplifications of Memory, The Nation, 26 May 2017
Rachel Monosov “Pastoral” at AC Repair Co., Toronto, Mousse Magazine, 8 August 2016
Seven Belgian-based artists to keep on your radar (Part 3), The Word, 13 April 2016