With photographic works exploring past and present youth culture, the artist weaves a tapestry of British identity

Sofia Hallström

Rene Matić: out of place, just in time

‘“The subversive potential of being out of place” is really what it all comes down to with my work,’ London-based artist Rene Matić tells me, quoting feminist writer Sara Ahmed, during a recent studio visit. Encompassing photography, film, text, and installation, Matić’s deeply personal practice explores themes of identity, subculture, faith, and family. In the photographic series flags for countries that don’t exist but bodies that do (2018–ongoing), on show at Arcadia Missa as part of Art Basel Miami Beach’s Nova sector, Matić asks what it means to be British by directing their camera at club nights, drag performers caught off-guard backstage, political graffiti on council estates, flowers honoring the Queen’s death, and intimate portraits of friends and family.

At the heart of Matić’s narrative is an exploration of the rude boy youth culture movement, which emerged in a newly-independent Jamaica in 1962. Originating in poverty and unemployment, this movement would be a pivotal influence on skinheads, who embraced working-class mod fashion and Jamaican music genres such as ska and reggae. Their ‘rude’-ness was a pose of political defiance, an affirmation of Black identity against the backdrop of systemic oppression and a refusal to conform to societal expectations that sought to marginalize their cultural expression.
‘My dad is a Black skinhead and I was brought up in a mixed-race household,’ Matić tells me. ‘It feels like I’m coming from a place that’s already in between.’ Born in Peterborough, Matić moved to London to study art, graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2020. There’s a complex duality in skinhead culture characterized by far-right political tendencies juxtaposed with influences drawn from the rude boy movement. Matić navigates this in-between space by incorporating intimate narratives that challenge oppressive ideologies with love rather than fear. ‘That’s why I’ve got “Born British, Die British” tattooed on my back,’ they say. The artist engages with the body as a framework to underpin humanity’s cultural, political, and familial complexities and traumas.

Every image in the series serves as a tribute to life, dance, and spaces that prove indispensable for othered communities. Yet, beneath this conviviality exists an awareness of the inherent tensions within the photographic medium and the act of looking, with Matić recognizing the potential for both harm and celebration to coexist. The artist’s exploration is a quest for self within the liminal spaces, aiming to find utopia in moments that challenge the status quo.

Rene Matić is represented by <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/4854/Arcadia-Missa" target="_blank">Arcadia Missa</a> (London). Their work will be on view in the Nova sector at Art Basel Miami Beach.
Sofia Hallström is a writer and artist based in London. 
Published on November 30,&nbsp;2023.
Caption for full-bleed images, from top to bottom: Photographs by&nbsp;Rene Matić.&nbsp;Courtesy of the artist and Arcadia Missa, London. 1.&nbsp;Kai’s Birthday Party, 2022. 2.&nbsp;Aries dancing at HOWL, 2023.

title_style_2

Via sneaker and water bottles, she mines the relationship between organic and synthetic worlds 
In partnership with On

Stories

Artist Pamela Rosenkranz: ‘The color pink does not exist’

The New York-based Latin American art specialist reveals who is catching her eye ahead of the fair

Art advisor Ana Sokoloff on the artists to look out for at Art Basel Miami Beach

Focusing on identity and representation, the fashion designer has just opened an exhibition at MoMA

Grace Wales Bonner on bringing together material, sound, and performance

With photographic works exploring past and present youth culture, the artist weaves a tapestry of British identity 

Art World

BNM - Banner Module

Photos

Crédits

H2 - Headline title

Information module

With photographic works exploring past and present youth culture, the artist weaves a tapestry of British identity

Join the Art Basel community and get closer to the artists, ideas, and cultural moments shaping art today—at our fairs and beyond.

Discover what moves the art world

Connection Error

Adjust artwork hanging position based on the Y-Axis. The higher the number the higher the position. We recommend looking at the preview mode first to see how it looks at 0 value. This does not apply to artworks with solid color backgrounds.

Artwork Title

Type Title here

On view at the fair 

Enable if this artwork can be seen during the show

View on Wall Options

Select a thumbnail to preview and crop

Header image crops

Header Image

Header Theme

Please upload an image that is at least 2000px in width or height in either a PNG or JPG format. Please ensure all images are in sRGB format to ensure proper color representation.&nbsp;

Welcome,

DISCOVER MORE RELATED CONTENT BELOW:

Discover what moves the art world