Rossella Biscotti
Rossella Biscotti was born in 1978 in Molfetta, Italy
She lives and works between Rotterdam and Brussels
She uses montage as a gesture to reveal individual narratives and their relation to society while simultaneously revealing the supports that create these narratives. In her cross-media practice, cutting across filmmaking, performance and sculpture, she explores and reconstructs social and political moments from recent times through the subjective experiences of individuals often posed against the backdrop of violent institutionalized systems. By integrating her personal experience and oral narratives into the recounting of new stories, she undertakes the construction of an unofficial account of history that lives on the margins of official discourse.
Often using a site of investigation as a starting point, differing and even contradictory accounts are sensibly weaved together into novel visual narratives. By examining the relevance of the recovered material from a contemporary perspective, Biscotti creates links and networks to the present, empowering the spectators’ imagination, culture and experience.
Rossella Biscotti graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples in 2002 and attended the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam in 2010-2011.
She took part at major international exhibitions, including the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), the 13th Istanbul Biennale (2013), Documenta 13, Kassel (2012), and Manifesta 9, Genk (2012).
Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at Salzburg International Summer Academy for Fine Arts (2021); Witte de With, Rotterdam (2019); Fondazione Ratti, Como (2019); daadgalerie, Berlin (2019); Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel (2018); Protocinema Istanbul (2018); GULAG History State Museum, Moscow (2016), Museion Bolzano (2015); Haus Lange Haus Esters, Krefeld (2014); WIELS, Brussels (2014); Sculpture Center, New York (2014); Secession, Vienna (2013); e-flux, New York (2013); CAC Vilnius (2012).
Additionally, her works have been exhibited at institutions and international events such as the Rijksmuseum Museum, Amsterdam (2022); Beaufort Triennale (2021); the 15th Bienal de Cuenca (2021); Dhaka Art Summit (2020); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2018, 2019); Kunstmuseum St Gallen (2018); IVAM, Valencia (2018); Contour Biennale, Mechelen (2017); MAXXI, Rome (2010, 2017, 2021); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2016); the Swiss Institute New York (2016); IMMA Dublin (2015); ICA London (2014); Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev (2014); Castello di Rivoli (2012), and Museu Serralves, Porto (2010), among others.
Biscotti has received several art awards including ACACIA Prize for Contemporary Art (2017), Premio della 16e Quadriennale d’Arte di Roma (2016), the Mies van der Rohe Stipendium, (2013), The Premio Michelangelo at XIV International Sculpture Biennale of Carrare (2010), The 2nd Prix de Rome in the Netherlands (2009), The City of Geneva Grand Prize at the 12th Biennial of Moving Images (2007), and the Premio NY, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Italian Academy and the Columbia University in New York (2006).
The Journey, Sonic Performance - Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Bozar, 2022
The Journey, Sonic Performance - Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Bozar, 2022
Beaufort 21 - Exhibition view, Beaufort Triennale, 2021
Beaufort 21 - Exhibition view, Beaufort Triennale, 2021
Beaufort 21 - Exhibition view, Beaufort Triennale, 2021
Beaufort 21 - Exhibition view, Beaufort Triennale, 2021
Trees on Land, 2021 - Exhibition view, mor charpentier, 2022
Trees on Land, 2021 - Exhibition view, mor charpentier, 2022
Live Feed, 2019 - Silskcreen print on cotton - Exhibition view, Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2019
New Work - Exhibition view, Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2019
Annalies, 2019 - Natural rubber - Exhibition view, Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2019
Sanikem ...,2019 - Natural rubber - Detail
Clara and Other Specimens - Exhibition view, Fondazione Ratti, Como, 2019
Clara and Other Specimens - Exhibition view, Fondazione Ratti, Como, 2019
Clara, 2016 - Exhibition view - Clara the rhinoceros, Rijksmuseum, 2022
Clara, 2016 - Mixed media installation - Detail
Clara, 2016 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2016
The City, 2018 - Five channel video installation - Exhibition view, Kunsthaus Baselland, 2019
The City, 2018 - Five channel video installation – Exhibition view, Daad Galerie, Berlin, 2019
A shirt, blue pants..., 2018 - Concrete and textiles - Exhibition view, Kunst Station Sankt-Peter, Cologne, 2018
A shirt, blue pants..., 2018 - Concrete and textiles - Exhibition view, Kunst Station Sankt-Peter, Cologne, 2018
A shirt, blue pants..., 2018 - Concrete and textiles - Exhibition view, Kunst Station Sankt-Peter, Cologne, 2018
A shirt, blue pants..., 2018 - Concrete and textiles - Exhibition view, Kunst Station Sankt-Peter, Cologne, 2018
A shirt, blue pants..., 2018 - Concrete and textiles - Exhibition view, Kunst Station Sankt-Peter, Cologne, 2018
On Walking, 2017 - Concrete floor piece - Installation view, Fondazione Memmo, Rome, 2017
On Walking, 2017 - Concrete floor piece - Detail
Alfabeto, 2018 - Digital print on paper
Alfabeto, 2018 - Series of digital prints on paper - Exhibition view, Blitz, Malta, 2019
Crude Oil, 2017 - Glass, metal bowl
Crude Oil, 2017 - Glass, metal bowl
The Journey, 2016 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2016
The Journey, 2016 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 2018
The Journey, 2016 - Blueprint
Three Works and a Script - Exhibition view, Blitz, Malta, 2019
10 x 10 (Acquired Nationality), 2014 - Jacquard woven textile - Exhibition view, Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, 2014
10 x 10 (Acquired Nationality), 2014 - Jacquard woven textile - Installation view, Portikus, Frankfurt, 2016
The Future Can Only Be For Ghosts - Exhibition view, Museion, Bolzano, 2015
The Future Can Only Be For Ghosts - Exhibition view, Museion, Bolzano, 2015
I dreamt that you changed into a cat, 2013 - Installation with compost sculptures - Exhibition view, 55th Venice Biennale, 2013
I dreamt that you changed into a cat, 2013 - Installation with compost sculptures - Detail
I dreamt that you changed into a cat, 2013 - Installation with compost sculptures - Detail
I dreamt that you changed into a cat, 2013 - Installation with compost sculptures - Exhibition view, Wiels, Brussels, 2014
The Trial, 2010-2013 - Live performance view, Wiels, Brussels, 2014
The Trial, 2010-2013 - Mixed-media installation - Exhibition view, Wiels, Brussels, 2014
The Trial, 2010-2013 - Live performance view, Wiels, Brussels, 2014
The Trial, 2010-2013 - Mixed-media installation - Exhibition view, Documenta 13, Kassel, 2012
The Trial, 2010-2013 - Mixed-media installation - Exhibition view, Documenta 13, Kassel, 2012
Title One: The Tasks of the Community, 2012 - Lead floor piece - Exhibition view, Manifesta 12, Genk, 2012
Title One: The Tasks of the Community, 2012 - Lead floor piece - Exhibition view, Manifesta 12, Genk, 2012
Title One, 2012-2016 - Lead floor piece - Exhibition view, CAC Vilnius, 2012
Title One, 2012-2016 - Lead floor piece - Detail
Yellow Movie, 2010 - Single channel video, color, sound
Yellow Movie, 2010 - Single channel video - Exhibition view, Galleria Civica, Trento, 2012
168 Sections of a Human Brain, 2009-2014 - Series of silver prints on paper - Exhibition view, Wiels, Brussels, 2014
168 Sections of a Human Brain, 2009-2014 - Series of silver prints on paper - Detail
The Anarchists Do Not Archive, 2010 - Installation with steel tables and letterpress plates - Exhibition view, XIV International Sculpture Biennial of Carrare, 2010
The Undercover Man, 2008 - Single channel video, b&w, sound