Rene Matić: upon this rock

Rene Matić’s solo exhibition upon this rock opens on 27 January 2023 from 18:00 – 21:00 at KUNSTVEREIN GARTENHAUS, Coburgbastei, Parkring 12A, 1010 Vienna.

upon this rock continues the artist long-term interrogation of ‘Britishness’, exploring how the nation’s past manifests in its present. Presenting Matic’s work for the first time in Austria, the exhibition investigates how family histories reverberate through different generations. It also places subculture and spirituality in dialogue. While recognising the pitfalls of both, it positions subculture as religion, as saviour or guide, and vice versa. Matic ́ notes: “it appears there is faith and soul both in the best and worst of things. There are parallels between finding the church and finding the pub. Or finding God and finding subculture. And in the end, I understand it as the search for something greater than yourself, something that won’t fail you when you are being failed.”

The new film work, Many Rivers (2022) takes the figure of Matić’s father, Paul as a starting point to reflect on diaspora and the experience of growing up as a mixed-race person in Britain in the 1960s. Also featured are new images from the artist’s ongoing photography series entitled flags for countries that don’t exist but bodies that do (2018 – ongoing). This series is a personal diary documenting Matić’s community and family (chosen and otherwise), as well as being a portrait and deconstruction of contemporary Britain.

The exhibition is a collaboration with South London Gallery, London and it is supported by Concrete Projects, Stadt Wien and the BMKÖS.