read me

medina zabo (b.arezzo,it, nd) is a transdisciplinary sculptor based in london and tuscany. central to their approach are dynamics of metamorphosis and interbeing, as a sociological metaphor of mutual adaptation in more-than-human habitats.  a process-based practice metabolizes a multifaceted language that draws strength from co-labouring across diverse realms. much of zabo’s work stems from a first-hand experience of a six months cohabitation in 2013 with a honeybee colony swarmed into the house and an early career on investigative journalism.

MA communication, università degli studi di perugia (2005)
PGCert new media, IED istituto europeo di design, rome campus (2010)
BA painting, accademia di belle arti pietro vannucci, perugia, accademia di belle arti di roma (2015-2019)
MFA arts and humanities, royal college of art, london (2024)
(2024) in secret dens, medina zabo + ulmus collective, wandsworth art fringe festival, supported by royal college of art and wandsworth council, london
(2024) co-creating with nature, sustainLab RCA, curated giada holland, zofia kierkus, yenah kim, hoi man lai, hee jo kang, Gulbenkian Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
(2024) interstitial, collective, curated elisa eoursa and emma black, safehouse south london
(2023) prompt for credentials, solo show, VO curations tower hill, london
(2023) terrae umbrae, curated andrea fogli, museo dinamico delle terrecotte di marsciano, perugia, it
(2022) contemporary abstract, curated by bob swearengin, hilliard gallery, kansas city US
(2022) esercizio di decenza VOL 1+2+3 * solo show, curated studio A’87, critical texts valeria de siero, sponsored spoleto council, chiesa museo madonna del pozzo IT 
(2022) nuovi reperti, brooks-laplante-zabo, MuST museo delle scienze e della terra del comune di spoleto IT
(2022) genetica della forma, solo installation, curated davide silvioli, palazzo collicola arti visive, spoleto (catalogue)
(2022) fuori fuoco_ angrisani, tancredi, tosti, zabo curated davide silvioli, studio attilio quintili, perugia (catalogue)
(2021) il paesaggio futuro rappresentazione/immaginazione, castelnuovo fotografia, site specific project, co_curated michela becchis, rome (catalogue)
(2021) oltre cenere_ mabos museo d’arte del bosco della sila_ (sense-residencies), permanent site specific project, catanzaro it (catalogue)
(2021) language gaps, curated joanna glinkowska, galerie kub, leipzig DE
(2021) play deep play, contextual exhibition, pilotenkueche international art program, curated joanna glinkowska, leipzig DE;
(2021) reimagining hope_ MOP month of photography denver, curated by samantha johnston + CPAC colorado photographic arts center, daniel &fisher clock tower,denver US
(2020) IV b-video art festival, curated by natalia monakhova and andrey slaschilin, khodynka gallery, moscow RU
(2020) #tempofermo, group curated by christian ciampoli, critic text chiara scarlato, galleria 16 civico, pescara IT
(2019) natura naturans, curated valeria guglielmi, sponsored by cortemilia councilchiesa conventuale di san francesco, cuneo 
(2019) diversioni, mariani_pallante_ vicidomini_ zabo, curated by davide silvioli, centro della documentazione e ricerca artistica luigi di sarro, rome (artist book)
(2019) materia prima, curated by michela becchis, curva pura gallery + boccanera gallery, castello aliprandini laifenthurn, trento IT (catalogue) 
(2019) arte laguna prize, land art section, arsenale of venice (catalogue)
(2018) f-u-t-u-r-a 3018 experimental arts festival curated by subsculture, site specific performance sponsored rete dei festival di treviso, porta santi quaranta, treviso
(2018) dentro e fuori, outdoor group show, sponsored perugia council + accademia di belle arti pietro vannucci, perugia IT
(2018) in buono stato* solo show, curva pura gallery, rome
(2018) brana_altri mondi, omaggio a brajo fuso curated andrea baffoni, fuseum contemporary art center, perugia (catalogue)
(2017) mimmo paladino and the young artistscurated museo tattile omero+tactus contemporary art center, sponsored ministero dei beni culturali e ministero dell’istruzione, mole vanvitelliana, ancona (catalogue)
(2016) opera pr1ma, various curators, sponsored by sistema museo + accademia di belle arti di perugia (catalogue)
(2016) anopticon_panopticon, international festival segnali,site specific project, sponsored by regione umbria  & institutional partners+ accademia di belle arti pietro vannucci, trebisonda contemporary art center perugia
 
 
artrepreneur_NY, curators’ selection, phantasmagoria award winner (2020)_ orange book 2022 vol.1, top 100 artists, published artrepreneur © us
sense residencies, mabos, museo d’arte del bosco della sila, art commission, catanzaro, it (2021)
pilotenkueche international program, artist in residence, leipzig, de, quarter II (2021)
 
award winning O.R.A. prize for the artistic research, selected by curva pura+roots (2018)
13th arte laguna prize, short-listed and finalist, land art section
premio nazionale antonio ranocchia, honourable mention (2017)

andreco _”parata della fine – the end of anthropocene era”, curated giada pellicari, contemporary art center luigi pecci, prato, february *17, performer

eliza soroga _re-enactment of “women in agony”, arsenale of venice, march *17, performer

aram bartholl _wannacry (weeping angels), 57th venice biennale, hyper pavilion, curated philippe riss-schmidt, produced by fabulous inc. may-september *17 performer

fondazione progetti beverly pepper _ (january 2017) (november 2018) art residencies – opera pr1ma off/beverly featuring accademia di belle arti pietro vannucci – beverly pepper tra todi e il mondo curated massimo mattioli, sponsored by beverly pepper foundation 

private collections_ (rotterdam, NL)(florence, IT)(rome, IT)

public collections_ (procura della repubblica, palazzo martorelli orsini, spoleto, IT_curated accademia di belle arti di perugia) (mabos, museo d’arte del bosco della sila, catanzaro, IT)

how do our cyborg-like habits reinvent the nature and process of metamorphosis?  

these questions emerged in 2013 when I found myself under the same roof with a family of honeybees. they suddenly swarmed indoors and settled in. The first of many such visits, since then. That milestone experience gradually intertwined with the research on habitats and social learning from the journalistic career which I had recently quit. Further development has thus expanded into a process of metamorphosis that I have been unwittingly involved in, through non-human encounters and dedicated studies,

to me, practicing art means being committed to foregrounding “unresolvable” positions, much like chasing the acknowledgement by staring at a hive in progress, like an ephemeral – goethean phenomenon though. whether fostering intimate knowledge throughout the materiality or facilitating the endless process of life and death in organic matter previously disturbed, my approach aims to provide recovery after disruption or collapse.

the methods of the creative process are shaped by labour-intensive manipulation of a special waste from apiculture, considered unproductive due to moth infestation. its organoleptic specificity comes actually from interspecies cooperation over the years including  multilayered human interventions, as well as artistic techniques. extra organic encounters eventually gather onto artifacts at all levels, past a certain degree of  control, interfering with our gaze. the unpredictability of the ultimate design eventually embodies organisms’ purposes, regardless of being ecological or artificial creatures.

medina zabo© 2024 designed by unibuni♚