Karen Russo

Karen Russo is an artist and filmmaker based in London. Her work is interested in the dividing line between what is accepted as the legitimate expression of culture and civilized existence, and what falls outside of it. By tracing marginalized practices, obscure phenomena, and esoteric forms of knowledge through film installations, drawings, writing and photographs, she addresses how we seek to understand the unseen and the unknown. Her filmmaking practice blurs documentary and fiction to explore how the rational and the obscure are intertwined in knowledge, perception and culture.

She has exhibited widely including Barbican Centre; Hayward Gallery Project Space; Tate Modern; Delfina; Towner, Eastbourne; Athens Biennial; the Israel Museum, Jerusalem and CCA Tel-Aviv. Her films have been screened in international film festivals such as Oberhausen, EMAF, Kasseler Dokfest and Alchemy Film Festival, and her work is included in collections such as the Arts Council and the Tel-Aviv Museum. Recent awards include Swedenborg Festival (2021) and Special Mention Award, Oberhausen Film Festival (2020).