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.
In 2017 and 2018 Monosov’s work was included in exhibitions at the BOZAR (she was a selected artist of the Europalia award) and the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Belgium; the National Museum of Art in Bucharest, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, and in three Biennales: 11th Bamako Biennale, 13th Biennale of Dakar, and at the 57th Venice Biennial in the Zimbabwe Pavilion. In 2019, she mounts her first museum solo exhibition at Tarble Arts Center in Illinois, and is included in exhibitions at Kunsthaus Hamburg and Palazzo delle Espozitioni, Rome. Her upcoming performance project is funded by the Goethe Institut (Vietnam). Her work has been acquired into the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, Block Museum at Northwestern University, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and Fondation Blachere (France).
Monosov is a co-founder of the CTG Collective, and currently lives and works in Berlin.
°1987 St. Petersburg , Russia
Live and work in Berlin, Germany
EDUCATION
2016 MA in Film, The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent (KASK), Belgium
2014 MFA The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent (KASK), Belgium
2010 BFA Photography, Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, Israel
2008 The School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
MUSEUM & BIENNIAL EXHIBITIONS
2021 Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, Evenston, USA (upcoming)
2020 State of the arts, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany; curated by: Johanna Adam, Miriam Barhoum
2019 Sublimi Anatomie, Palazzo delle Espozitioni, Rome, Italy; curated by: Andrea Carlino, Philippe Comar, Anna Luppi, Vincenzo Napolano, Laura Perrone
New Acquisitions in Photography, Art Institute of Chicago, curators: Antawan Byrd & Matthew Witkovsky
2018 Unknowing Knowns Knowing Unknowns: , National Museum of Art, Bucharest, Romania
Meeting of the Minds, The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare
Biennial of Dakar, 13th Biennial of Contemporary African Art; Curator: Simon Njami
NEW FEELINGS, Center for Contemporary Art & Culture, Portland, USA; Curator: Modou Dieng
2017 Europalia, Bozar, Brussels, Belgium; Curators: Laura Herman and Charlotte Dumoncel d’Argence
Afrotopia, Bamako Encounters 11th Edition, Biennale of African Photography; Curator: Marie-Ann Yamsi
Transcultural Protocol, performance in collaboration with Admire Kamudzengerere, Zimbabwe Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale; curator: Raphael Chikukwa
Melodica, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
2016 Zig Zag Zig, The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 We're Almost There, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois, USA
2018 The Blind Leader, Catinca Tabacaru, New York
2016 Pastoral, AC Repair Co., Toronto, Canada
2015 Effects of Displacement, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, USA
Pastoral, Barbé Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
2014 The Premier of the Audition Acts as Symbol, REH-TRANSFORMER, Berlin, Germany; Curator: Marcus Kettel
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2020 Enter Through The Void, Exit Through The Gift Shop (Performance). CAMPO victoria, Gent, Belgium
2019 hybrID, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Curator: Anna Nowak
Hypermaremma Chapter II, ‘La Città Sommersa’ Antica Città de Cosa, Ansedonia, Italy
All gifted, אלמסן / المخزن / Almacén, Jaffa, Israel; Curator: Netta Laufer
Casted, Plek, Ghent, Belgium; Curators: Meer Collective
TENANTS by Rachel Monosov, Margarita Maximova, and Jura Shust with Augustus Ruth, Giorgio Galotti, Torino, Italy
41st Jalovik Art Colony, Kuća Kralja Petra, Serbia; Curators: Branislav Nikolic & Catinca Tabacaru
2018 Transcultural Transience, Curatorial collective Karma Ltd. Extended, ACUD Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Fear of Change: true scenes and flat screens, Site131, Dallas, Texas, USA
2017 Transcultural Protocol, performance in collaboration with Admire Kamudzengerere, Thalie Art Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
TERRA NOVA, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, USA
LEŽERNA RAZMJENA BEZ PANIKE, Charlama Contemporary Art Gallery, Sarajevo
2016 Fragmented Time, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, USA
Zig Zag Zim, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, USA
A perfect storm for business, The Governor’s Mansion, Ghent, Belgium; Curators: Liene Aerts, Wim Lambrecht and Wim Waelput
2015 Devotion, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York; Curators: William Corwin and Catinca Tabacaru Art
Prize CBM (Premio “Carlo “Bonatto” Minella), Turin, Italy
La Vie mode d’emploi, Zwarte Zaal, Ghent, Belgium
“Worlds of Nature”, Ramfoundation, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2014 The Last Brucennial, New York, USA; presented by Vito Schnabel and The Bruce High Quality Foundation
Kiss, Zona 30, Lima, Peru; Curator: Katie Peyton
2013 Special Project, Bit Map, Ghent, Belgium
100 Years in the Underground, Steichen to Sherman, Peanut Underground Art Projects, New York, USA
Conventional Codes Of, Lambert Fine Arts, New York, USA; Curator: Catinca Tabacaru
We Man, Bijloke, Ghent, Belgium
2011 Hard Pop, St-Art, Tel Aviv, Israel; Curators: Liora Belford
SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS
2017 CTG Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2016 Impossible Meeting Point, Pool’s Island, Canada
2015 Pink Village, Harare, Zimbabwe
SCREENINGS
2019 Freedom in the clouds, Videocittà, MAXXI Museum, Rome
2017 Melodica, CIMMfest No.9, Chicago, USA
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, Chicago, USA
2015 The Visitor, 44th Edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam_, The Netherlands
The Visitor, Het Grote Ongeduld Xtra!, Cinemathek, Brussels, Belgium
RESIDENCIES & SCHOLARSHIPS
2020 Künstlerhaus Lukas Scholarships, Germany (upcoming)
2019 German Academy in Rome, Villa Massimo Fellowship, Praxisstipendium
live.make.share - Undecided Productions, Hanoi, Vietnam (Project in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Vietnam)
Serlachius Museum, Finland
2018 Jalovik Art Colony, Serbia
CRIPTA747, Torino, Italy
2017 CTG-R: Zimbabwe, CTG Collective in collaboration with Dzimbanhete Arts Interactions, 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 in collaboration with Matthew Evans, Pool’s Island, Canada
Dusangneuf Osangsett, Brussels, Belgium
Museum Dhondat-Dhaenens, House Van Wassenhove
2015 CTG-R: Zimbabwe, CTG Collective in collaboration with Dzimbanhete Arts Interactions, Harare, Zimbabwe
AWARDS & PRIZES
2017 Northern Trust Purchase Prize, EXPO Chicago
Europalia Curator’s Award, Belgium (Selected Artist); Curators: Laura Herman and Charlotte Dumoncel d’Argence
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Art Institute of Chicago
Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University
National Gallery of Zimbabwe
Foundation Blachère
Collection Praz-Delavallade
ST-ART by Serge Tiroche
Beth Rudin DeWooday
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & TEACHING WORKSHOPS
2019 Between the wall and the body, Performance Workshop, Palazzo delle Espozitioni
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, Bideodromo Festival, Bilbao, Spain (3-day workshop)
2017 Filmmakers Panel, dokumentArt, Neubrandenburg, Germany
Photography & Film (with Lisa Lapierre), Trichirapalli, India; organized by Thalie Art Foundation (3-week workshop)