Martina Zanin’s research is deeply intertwined with autobiographical experiences, exploring themes such as absence, memory, aggression, repetition, patriarchy, and heritage. She is interested in the psychological consequences and origins of specific behaviors and patterns that emerge within family dynamics. Simultaneously, this fascination extends to the relationship between the human and animal components, activating parallels, metaphors, and cross-cutting reflections on philosophical, sociological, scientific, and poetic levels. Zanin’s artistic practice involves the use of various languages—photography, writing, collage, sound, video, and sculpture. These elements are woven into layered compositions or narratives, in the form of installations or artist books, assembled through associations, correspondences, or dissonances, in an attempt to create a multisensory engagement and go beyond what is visible. As a result, in these hybridizations, contrasts and dualities coexist—anger and compassion, tension and tenderness, attraction and repulsion, vulnerability and strength—conveyed through the very act of creation (which includes actions such as tearing, nailing, hammering, engraving) or in the tangible manifestation of the final work.
BIOGRAPHY
Martina Zanin (b. 1994, San Daniele del Friuli) lives and works in Milan. She is a visual artist who works with a wide range of mediums, central to her practice are photography, writing, installation, and artist books.
Zanin is the author of the photobook I Made Them Run Away, published by Skinnerboox, and Older Than Love, a self-published artist book. With the installation Dear F. she is the winner of Premio Terna 2023 (youth section). In 2021, she won the first prize of Camera Work, and was among the winners of Giovane Fotografia Italiana and Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC), and the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity. Zanin has been nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award 2019 and the C/O Berlin Talent Award 2020, two international prestigious awards for visual arts.
Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally, including Palazzo delle Esposizioni (2023), Foto Forum (2023), Fondazione Pastificio Cerere (2023), Fondazione Orestiadi (2023), Benaki Museum (2022), IIC Abu Dhabi (2021), FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive (2021), BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea (2021), Spazio Labò (2021), galleria studiofaganel (2021), Fotografia Europea (2021), Photo España (2018), Goethe Institute (2017). Her works are part of public collections such as MoMA Library, FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, MEP – La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, and Fondazione Orestiadi, among others. She has been a guest lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University, RUFA, University of Trieste, and FMAV – Scuola di Alta Formazione.
2024 – After Reminiscence, Cassina Projects, Milan, IT 2023 – Premio Terna – Driving Energy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, IT – Human x Nature – The Hunt, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome, IT – Molteplicità, Gibellina PhotoRoad, Fondazione Orestiadi, Gibellina, IT – A Man’s World, Cavallerizza Torino, Turin, IT 2022 – Italian Panorama, BASE Milano, Milan, IT – Good Advice & Other Recipes, Benaki Museum, Athens, GR – AXES-SAM Residency Program, Fonderia 20.9, Verona, IT 2021 – Older Than Love, Nuove Acquisizioni – Cantica21, FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, Modena, IT – Metafotografia III, BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea, Bergamo, IT – RECONSTRUCTION – Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Cortona On The Move, Cortona, IT – CORPOREA, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT – RECONSTRUCTION – Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, IT – Premio Francesco Fabbri, Fondazione Fabbri, Pieve di Soligo, IT 2020 – SHIFT, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT – Spazio Libero – Immagini per riabitare la città, Reggio Emilia, IT 2019 – AXIS – SAM Residency Program, Bosco Chiesanuova, IT – Sistemi, Centrale Festival 11, Fano, IT 2018 – I Made Them Run Away, PhotoEspana, Madrid, ES 2017 – Più Culture, Goethe Institute, Rome, IT 2015 – DRD4-7R – Futuro anteriore, Spazio Fontana, Palazzo Esposizioni, Rome, IT – LA GRANDE ALLUSIONE: 1974-2015, MLAC-Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Rome, IT
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2023 Premio Terna | Driving Energy (winner) Premio Francesco Fabbri (special mention) Deloitte Photo Grant (finalist) Nuovo Forno del Pane Outdoor Edition, MAMbo Bologna (finalist) 2021 LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award Arles (finalist) Images Gibellina (winner) Images Vevey Book Award (finalist) Camera Work (winner) Prix Virginia (finalist) Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere (winner) 2020 Premio Francesco Fabbri (finalist) Giovane Fotografia Italiana (finalist) C/O Berlin Talent Award (nominee) 2019 Foam Paul Huf Award (nominee) SÅM – Artist Residency Program 2017 Photo Workshop New York Scholarship (winner)
2023 – TALK – Cantica21. Presentation of the books with Martina Zanin and Jacopo Valentini, Spazio F, Modena, IT 2022 – TEACHER AND TUTOR at Grisart – Escuela Internacional de Fotografía, Barcelona, ES – TALK – Ritratto di Famiglia. Federica Chiocchetti in conversation with Martina Zanin and Sara Perovic, BASE Milano, IT – BOOK PRESENTATION – I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Chiara Capodici and Raffaella Perna, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, IT – LECTURE on Family Archives – Master in Photographic Archives, University of Trieste, IT – TALK – Retreat of Independent Photographic Publishing, The House of Photography, Pisa, IT – TALK – Metafotografia with Martina Zanin, Elio Grazioli, Riccardo Panattoni, University of Verona, IT – LECTURE – The present state of the arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, CN 2021 – BOOK PRESENTATION – I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Sara Occhipinti, studiofaganel, Gorizia, IT – MASTERCLASS – RUFA, Rome, IT – LECTURE – Spazio Labo’, Bologna, IT – TALK – Martina Zanin presents I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Daria Tuminas at 10x10photobooks #INSTAsalons – LECTURE – FMAV – Scuola di Alta Formazione, Modena, IT – TALK – I Made Them Run Away at PhMuseum Days, Bologna, IT – TALK – Speciale Giovane Fotografia Italiana #08, Cortona On the Move, IT – TALK – Da Reggio Emilia a Cortona. Sinergie per la Giovane Fotografia Italiana – Nuove prospettive di immaginazione, Fotografia Europea, IT
COLLECTIONS
Fondazione Orestiadi, Gibellina
MEP – La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
MoMA Library, New York
BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea Odierna, Bergamo
Biblioteca Panizzi, Municipality of Reggio Emilia
Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, Galleria Civica di Modena
Palazzo Rasponi II, Municipality of Ravenna
EDUCATION
2020 Creative Writing, Scuola Omero, Rome, IT 2018/19 Plastic Arts, Scuola Nicola Zabaglia, Rome, IT 2018 «Exhibit – Know How», MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, IT 2017/18 MA in Contemporary Photography, IED Madrid, ES 2017 Workshop with Phillip Toledano, Pratt Institute, New York, US 2013/16 BA Honors in Photography, ISFCI, Rome, IT
About
STATEMENT
Martina Zanin’s research is deeply intertwined with autobiographical experiences, exploring themes such as absence, memory, aggression, repetition, patriarchy, and heritage. She is interested in the psychological consequences and origins of specific behaviors and patterns that emerge within family dynamics. Simultaneously, this fascination extends to the relationship between the human and animal components, activating parallels, metaphors, and cross-cutting reflections on philosophical, sociological, scientific, and poetic levels. Zanin’s artistic practice involves the use of various languages—photography, writing, collage, sound, video, and sculpture. These elements are woven into layered compositions or narratives, in the form of installations or artist books, assembled through associations, correspondences, or dissonances, in an attempt to create a multisensory engagement and go beyond what is visible. As a result, in these hybridizations, contrasts and dualities coexist—anger and compassion, tension and tenderness, attraction and repulsion, vulnerability and strength—conveyed through the very act of creation (which includes actions such as tearing, nailing, hammering, engraving) or in the tangible manifestation of the final work.
BIOGRAPHY
Martina Zanin (b. 1994, San Daniele del Friuli) lives and works in Milan. She is a visual artist who works with a wide range of mediums, central to her practice are photography, writing, installation, and artist books.
Zanin is the author of the photobook I Made Them Run Away, published by Skinnerboox, and Older Than Love, a self-published artist book. With the installation Dear F. she is the winner of Premio Terna 2023 (youth section). In 2021, she won the first prize of Camera Work, and was among the winners of Giovane Fotografia Italiana and Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC), and the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity. Zanin has been nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award 2019 and the C/O Berlin Talent Award 2020, two international prestigious awards for visual arts.
Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally, including Palazzo delle Esposizioni (2023), Foto Forum (2023), Fondazione Pastificio Cerere (2023), Fondazione Orestiadi (2023), Benaki Museum (2022), IIC Abu Dhabi (2021), FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive (2021), BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea (2021), Spazio Labò (2021), galleria studiofaganel (2021), Fotografia Europea (2021), Photo España (2018), Goethe Institute (2017). Her works are part of public collections such as MoMA Library, FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, MEP – La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, and Fondazione Orestiadi, among others. She has been a guest lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University, RUFA, University of Trieste, and FMAV – Scuola di Alta Formazione.
SELECTED SOLO SHOWS
2023
Please, don’t ever come down, Foto Forum, Bozen, IT
2022
I Made Them Run Away, Terranova, Barcelona, ES
2021
Older Than Love, IIC Abu Dhabi, Fann À Porter, Dubai, AE
I Made Them Run Away, Spazio Labò, Bologna, IT
I Made Them Run Away, Palazzo Rasponi II, Ravenna, IT
I Made Them Run Away, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT
2020
I Made Them Run Away, Panoramic Festival, Barcelona, ES
2019
I Made Them Run Away, Leporello, Rome, IT
2018
I Made Them Run Away, JEST, Turin, IT
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2024
– After Reminiscence, Cassina Projects, Milan, IT
2023
– Premio Terna – Driving Energy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, IT
– Human x Nature – The Hunt, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome, IT
– Molteplicità, Gibellina PhotoRoad, Fondazione Orestiadi, Gibellina, IT
– A Man’s World, Cavallerizza Torino, Turin, IT
2022
– Italian Panorama, BASE Milano, Milan, IT
– Good Advice & Other Recipes, Benaki Museum, Athens, GR
– AXES-SAM Residency Program, Fonderia 20.9, Verona, IT
2021
– Older Than Love, Nuove Acquisizioni – Cantica21, FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, Modena, IT
– Metafotografia III, BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea, Bergamo, IT
– RECONSTRUCTION – Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Cortona On The Move, Cortona, IT
– CORPOREA, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT
– RECONSTRUCTION – Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, IT
– Premio Francesco Fabbri, Fondazione Fabbri, Pieve di Soligo, IT
2020
– SHIFT, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT
– Spazio Libero – Immagini per riabitare la città, Reggio Emilia, IT
2019
– AXIS – SAM Residency Program, Bosco Chiesanuova, IT
– Sistemi, Centrale Festival 11, Fano, IT
2018
– I Made Them Run Away, PhotoEspana, Madrid, ES
2017
– Più Culture, Goethe Institute, Rome, IT
2015
– DRD4-7R – Futuro anteriore, Spazio Fontana, Palazzo Esposizioni, Rome, IT
– LA GRANDE ALLUSIONE: 1974-2015, MLAC-Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Rome, IT
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2023
Premio Terna | Driving Energy (winner)
Premio Francesco Fabbri (special mention)
Deloitte Photo Grant (finalist)
Nuovo Forno del Pane Outdoor Edition, MAMbo Bologna (finalist)
2021
LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award Arles (finalist)
Images Gibellina (winner)
Images Vevey Book Award (finalist)
Camera Work (winner)
Prix Virginia (finalist)
Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere (winner)
2020
Premio Francesco Fabbri (finalist)
Giovane Fotografia Italiana (finalist)
C/O Berlin Talent Award (nominee)
2019
Foam Paul Huf Award (nominee)
SÅM – Artist Residency Program
2017
Photo Workshop New York Scholarship (winner)
BOOKS
2023
Slanted – Books, Slanted Publishers
Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere, Silvana Editoriale
2021
Older Than Love, Self-published
I Made Them Run Away, SKINNERBOOX
Metafotografia III, SKINNERBOOX
2020
SHIFT, studiofaganel
SELECTED PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
«Una riflessione coraggiosa sull’aggressività», review by Laura Leonelli, Il Sole 24 Ore
«Nel mio padre-falco l’ambivalenza affettiva», review by Beba Marsano, Il Corriere della Sera
«Die Vater-Tochter-Wunde ist tief», exhibition review on Dolomiten Tagblatt der Südtiroler
Older Than Love with text by Gaia Amorello, L’Essenziale Studio vol.05
You Can’t Tame Me, Mother Tongue Magazine #4
VICINO – Portfolio with text by Emanuela Mirabelli, Marie Claire Italia
I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Ilaria Sponda, C4 Journal
I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Matteo Cremonesi, PHROOM
I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Odette England, photo-eye
I libri di fotografia dell’anno, Internazionale
PhMuseum’s Best Photobooks of 2021
Q&A Chiara Bardelli-Nonino and Martina Zanin, Vogue Italia
I Made Them Run Away, L’Essenziale
Ricordi che non scappano via, Internazionale
C41 Questions On: Printed Narratives with Martina Zanin
Metafotografia – Linguaggi di confine, Internazionale
I Made Them Run Away, Vostok Magazine (vol.28)
New Photography – Martina Zanin, ATP Diary
Research, Faith, and Identity of Two Astrological Twins, PhMuseum
SAM Lessinia Residency, ATP Diary
I Made Them Run Away, Unseen Magazine #7
I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Olga Gambari, La Repubblica
rinnegato, EyesOpen Magazine #8
SELECTED TALKS AND LECTURES
2023
– TALK – Cantica21. Presentation of the books with Martina Zanin and Jacopo Valentini, Spazio F, Modena, IT
2022
– TEACHER AND TUTOR at Grisart – Escuela Internacional de Fotografía, Barcelona, ES
– TALK – Ritratto di Famiglia. Federica Chiocchetti in conversation with Martina Zanin and Sara Perovic, BASE Milano, IT
– BOOK PRESENTATION – I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Chiara Capodici and Raffaella Perna, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, IT
– LECTURE on Family Archives – Master in Photographic Archives, University of Trieste, IT
– TALK – Retreat of Independent Photographic Publishing, The House of Photography, Pisa, IT
– TALK – Metafotografia with Martina Zanin, Elio Grazioli, Riccardo Panattoni, University of Verona, IT
– LECTURE – The present state of the arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, CN
2021
– BOOK PRESENTATION – I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Sara Occhipinti, studiofaganel, Gorizia, IT
– MASTERCLASS – RUFA, Rome, IT
– LECTURE – Spazio Labo’, Bologna, IT
– TALK – Martina Zanin presents I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Daria Tuminas at 10x10photobooks #INSTAsalons
– LECTURE – FMAV – Scuola di Alta Formazione, Modena, IT
– TALK – I Made Them Run Away at PhMuseum Days, Bologna, IT
– TALK – Speciale Giovane Fotografia Italiana #08, Cortona On the Move, IT
– TALK – Da Reggio Emilia a Cortona. Sinergie per la Giovane Fotografia Italiana – Nuove prospettive di immaginazione, Fotografia Europea, IT
COLLECTIONS
EDUCATION
2020 Creative Writing, Scuola Omero, Rome, IT
2018/19 Plastic Arts, Scuola Nicola Zabaglia, Rome, IT
2018 «Exhibit – Know How», MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, IT
2017/18 MA in Contemporary Photography, IED Madrid, ES
2017 Workshop with Phillip Toledano, Pratt Institute, New York, US
2013/16 BA Honors in Photography, ISFCI, Rome, IT