RACHEL MONOSOV (b. 1987, St. Petersburgh, Russia)
Bridging photography, video, performance and sculpture, Russian-born Rachel
Monosov delves into cultural notions of alienation, territorial belonging, gender,
and identity. Nature serves as a source for the artist’s imagery and objects, which
can be interpreted as both symbolic and indexical. While her early career
focused on autobiographical works steeped with a desire to grapple with her
personal history, in recent years her work has reflected a rootless present rife
with broader social implications.
Monosov works on a project basis, each year producing several bodies of work
in a variety of themes and methodologies. She constructs entire worlds around
her subjects, which function pursuant to their own set of rules and laws.
Together, the works speak on socio-political issues related to territory as
geography and body.
Monosov holds two MFAs in Filmmaking and Fine Art from The Royal Academy
of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent, Belgium, and her BA from Bezalel Academy in
Jerusalem, Israel. In the past two years, she has exhibited at the Zimbabwe
Pavilion of the 57th Venice Biennale in collaboration with artist Admire
Kamudzengerere, at the 11th Bamako Biennial, and at the Dakar Biennial; and in
museum exhibitions at the BOZAR and Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Belgium,
and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare. Her work has been acquired
into the permanent collections of the Block Museum at Northwestern University
and The Art Institute of Chicago, among other international public and private
collections. Monosov has exhibited in galleries, foundations and film festivals
globally, and has been the subject of much critical acclaim. She is a co-founder
of the CTG Collective, and currently lives and works in Berlin.
ADMIRE KAMUDZENGERERE (b. 1981, Harare, Zimbabwe)
Admire Kamudzengerere’s work explores identity, politics, and society, often
informed by the multifaceted structural and social issues that have marked
Zimbabwe’s last decade. Working in various media, he frequently reveals an
unequal world in which the powerful ride roughshod over the weak. His
monotype self-portraits, intense and indefinable, speak to personal struggle,
self-definition, and father-son relationships, but are also pieces of a universal
puzzle invoking a unifying human thread—the fil rouge of community and
ancestry.
Kamudzengerere completed the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten
program in Amsterdam in 2012, and in 2017 mounted his first solo exhibition at
Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in New York. The same year, he represented Zimbabwe
at the 57th Venice Biennial, participated in the Triangle Residency in in New
York, and was included in the Bamako Biennial. Most recently Kamudzengerere
exhibited at the Portland Center for Contemporary Art & Culture, was awarded
the On Demand Prize by Snaporazverein at MiArt in Milan, and was presented at
the 13th Dakar Biennale.
In addition to private collections around the world, Kamudzengerere’s work has
been acquired into the permanent collections of the Block Museum at
Northwestern University, and The Art Institute of Chicago.
