Rene Matić
AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH
Opening: 7 Nov 2024, 6–9 pm
AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH marks the first institutional solo exhibition of British artist Rene Matić in Germany. Matić’s practice spans photography, film, sculpture, and poetry, often converging in an examination of the social dynamics of race, gender, and class manifested in intimate relationships. Central to their artistic inquiry is a critical inspection of national identity and its associated symbolics encapsulated in everyday images.
The exhibition at CCA Berlin features newly produced photographs and installations. An underlying thread in the artist's highly personal images and works is a fascination with the way bodies, identities and expressions of political alliance intersect amid the global rise of right-wing populism. At a time when political discourse is saturated with rhetorical grandeur and performative gestures, the vocabulary of compassion and the condemnation of violence can effectively create an illusion of care, while masking the harsh reality of systemic brutality. In the face of this double-sidedness of power, Matić looks for possibilities of resistance within the sphere of interpersonal relationships. For the artist, intimacies and desires, however fragile or illusory they might seem, can give true meaning to our individual reality. By holding space for the confluence of the personal and the political, the exhibition offers glimpses of how people cling to and care for each other, and how we learn to live with vulnerabilities, despite, or in defiance of the so-called truth.
Supported by LEAP. With additional support from Arcadia Missa, London, and Francesco Paolo Francica. We are also grateful for our hospitality partner 25hours Hotels.
The exhibition will be extended by a publication on Rene Matić's work and practice, to be released in spring 2025.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a public program including guided tours and a three-part workshop series.
Curators: Fabian Schöneich with Nan Xi
Production: Franz Hempel
Curatorial Fellow: Pauline Herrmann
Rene Matić (b. 1997, Peterborough, UK) is a London-based artist and writer whose practice spans across photography, film, and sculpture, converging in a meeting place they describe as “rude(ness)”—an evidencing and honouring of the in-between. Matić draws inspiration from dance and music movements such as Northern soul, Ska, and 2-Tone as a tool to delve into the complex relationship between West Indian and white working-class culture in Britain, whilst privileging queer/ing intimacies, partnerships and pleasure as modes of survival.
Since 2017, Rene Matić has participated in group and solo exhibitions at Saatchi Gallery, South London Gallery, Sadie Coles HQ, Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol, and Kunstverein Gartenhaus, Vienna among other places. In 2023, Rene Matić had their first US solo exhibition in the gallery Chapter in New York. Their work has been included in the public collection of many international institutions, such as Tate, Foundation Louis Vuitton, UK Government Art Collection, Arts Council Collection, Martin Parr Foundation, and South London Gallery etc.