About me

The unknown—in its scientific, metaphysical, and historical varieties—is central to my investigations as an artist. I’m interested in the dividing line between what is accepted as the legitimate expression of culture and civilized existence, and what falls outside of it, is excluded, expelled or repressed.

My work blurs document and narrative in an exploration of how knowledge, perception, and culture intertwine the rational with the obscure. By tracing marginalized practices, obscure phenomena, and esoteric forms of knowledge through film installations, drawings, writing and photographs, I address the legacy of transgressive means for understanding the unseen and the unknown.

Short bio

Karen Russo (b. 1974) is an artist living and working in London.

She has exhibited in such venues as the Whitechapel Gallery; Barbican; Hayward Gallery Project Space; V&A Museum; Tate Modern; Delfina; Towner Eastbourne; Paradise Row Gallery, London; Busan Biennial; Athens Biennial; Montevideo, Amsterdam; Grosse Kunstschau Museum, Worpswede; Haus der Kulturen Der Welt: HKW, Berlin; Krefeld Museum, Krefeld; Arquebuse Gallery, Geneva and more.

Russo's films have been screened in numerous festivals including Oberhausen, Ann Arbor, Werkleitz, Kasseler Dokfest and EMAF to name a few. She is a Film London Jarman Award Nominee (2023).