Melanie Manchot, Saban and Faik, Double Portrait (Displaced), 2009, 102 x 80.0 cm each (part of 5 photographic diptychs). Courtesy the artist.
Melanie Manchot uses photography, film and video to explore portraiture as a performative and participatory practice. Situated at the threshold between the documentary and the staged Manchot’s projects often propose constructed events or situations in public spaces and form engaging explorations into our individual and collective identities.
Manchot was born in Germany and lives and works in London. Her exhibitions include an offsite project with Whitechapel Art Gallery in 2009 and her first film, commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, which will be shown at The Whitechapel Art Gallery in 2010. In 2009 she participated in the 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale and the Nuit Blanche in Paris. Previous shows include ‘Stories from Russia’ at The Photographers Gallery, ‘Shave’ at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh and Compton Verney, Warwickshire in 2007 and the First Moscow Biennale, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia in 2005.
Melanie made a series of double portraits as part of her residency in Istanbul for Journeys with No Return.