We meet leading artist Rene Matić to discuss their current solo exhibition A Girl For The Living Room at Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol. We also explore their earlier works exhibited at South London Gallery and their solo show at Quench Gallery, Margate. Plus we discuss their series of fifteen photographs that the Tate museum have acquired for their permanent collection - currently on display at Tate Britain's rehang of Modern and Contemporary British Art.

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.  

In 2022 Martin Parr Foundation commissioned photographic artist Rene Matić to develop a new body of work in Bristol. Rene has created an intimate portrait of their friend Travis Alabanza, a Bristol born and based writer, performer and theatre maker. This new work comprises a mix of portraits alongside diaristic still lifes that document Rene and Travis’s developing relationship as it became “lit by a table lamp instead of a disco ball.”

‘We were excited to discover Rene’s work and started to think about the idea of Rene shooting a project in Bristol and what this might look like. In 2022 we gave them a carte blanche to pursue any subject of their choice for this commission, so long as there was a Bristol connection. In ‘a girl for the living room’ Rene has found a way of capturing and expressing their relationship with Travis Alabanza, a Bristol-born and based artist and performer.’ – Martin Parr

Follow @Rene.Matic on Instagram and their gallery @ArcadiaMissa, 35 Duke Street, London: https://arcadiamissa.com/rene-matic/

A GIRL FOR THE LIVING ROOM BY RENE MATIĆ runs until 17th September 2023 in Bristol.

Visit: @MartinParrFdn and https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/exhibitions/a-girl-for-the-living-room/

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