Nora Turato
Nora Turato is an artist who lives and works in Amsterdam. Turato’s work uses found textual materials to contend with the porosity of language in contemporary media landscapes. She appropriates language from books, advertising, social media, and everyday exchanges and pours it into sonorous, spoken-word performances and typographical works that range from wall murals and video works to artist books and posters.
Turato produces approximately two performances of twenty minutes per year, which allows her to speak to cultural and political issues of the moment. Strongly informed by her background in graphic design, Turato’s visual artworks are characterised by bold, typographic imagery that echo the messaging of her spoken-word performances and the graphic language of contemporary ad-slogans.
While Turato’s work can be dissected and interpreted under many different lenses, her stage presence - as a woman, whose behaviour is unpredictable - and her voice - which thunders and bellows and squeals - often elicits the greatest critical response. This illustrates one point very well: despite all illusions, the freedom of women’s speech is still a point of sharp contention even in allegedly progressive societies.
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions include: Serralves Museum, Porto, Lisbon (2019) Explained Away, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz (2019); Diffusion Line, Beursschouwburg, Brussels (2019); Subject:Fwd:Unknown, fffriedrich space, Frankfurt (2018); new bulbs, new owner, La Plage, Paris Pool 2, UKS, Oslo (2018).
Group exhibitions
Group exhibitions include: It’s Urgent!, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Heartland Festival, Copenhagen (2019); Standing Still, Lying Down, As If, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (2018); Klassentreffen, Werke aus der Sammlung Gaby und Wilhelm Schürmann, mumok, Vienna (2018); Manifesta 12, Palermo (2018).
Performances
Performances include: Block Universe International Performance Art Festival, London (2018); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2018); Fri Art Centre d’Art Fribourg, Fribourg (2018); KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin, Berlin (2017).