Nadja Verena Marcin

Nadja Verena Marcin was born in Würzburg, Germany, and is of Slovakian-German descent. She is a Berlin- and New York-based visual artist, performance artist and filmmaker, exploring gender, history, morality, psychology and human behavior through an intersectional analysis of feminism and emotional architecture in a theatrical and cinematic context.

Best known for her performances “OPHELIA” and “How to Undress in Front of Your Husband”, she subverts historical and media representations of women to highlight ideological systems of power and psychological effects at the moment of their creation. Addressing ecological and human rights concerns through an often absurdist, surreal, bold repurposing of relational imagery and source material from literature, history, philosophy, art and pop culture to create thought-provoking encounters, her work calls attention to norm shifts and reevaluates social constructs and predominant world models.

She has presented solo shows and performances in Kunstverein Ruhr (2021/22), Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken (2020), SCHAUWERK Sindelfingen (2019), Minnesota Street Project (2018), CONTEXT Art Miami (2017), SOHO20 Gallery (2016); Esther Donatz Gallery, Munich (2015); GOETHE Center, Santa Cruz (2014), and Dortmunder Kunstverein (2012). She has participated in group exhibitions and presentations in institutions such as TICKTACK, Antwerp (2022), Transpalette, Bourges (2021), Gropius Bau, Berlin (2020), Ecofutures, London (2019), Fridman Gallery, New York (2018), Microscope Gallery, New York (2017), 5th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art (2016), Middle Gate Geel’13 (2013), ZKM- Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe (2012), and Garage Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow (2010).

Marcin has won numerous grants and prizes, including: Artsformation Commission (2022), NEUSTART Modul C by BBK via the Federal German Culture Commissioner (2021/2022), Individual Artist’s Grant in Electronic Media & Film by New York Council on the Arts (2022/2019), Kulturamt Köln (2018), Franklin Furnace Grant, New York (2017), NRW Film-und Mediafoundation (2013), DAAD, Germany (2011), and Fulbright, New York (2007).

Marcin’s work has been featured in media such as Texte zur Kunst, Artforum, VICE Creator’s Project, Huffington Post, Interview Magazine, Artnet News, and Art Frankly. She has taught and lectured at Wellesley College, International Center for Photography, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Greensboro, State University of Santa Cruz, City College of New York, PI Art Center, and Brooklyn College. Marcin is represented by AKArt in San Francisco.

Nadja Verena Marcin is an Onassis AiR Fellow for 2022-23 within the framework of the European Media Art Platform, that is co-funded by the European Union.