Marina Pinsky (*1986 in Moscow, Russia; lives in Brussels, Belgium) works in the medium of photography and with photographic methods that she extends into the sculptural and installative realms. The focus of her work is usually on historical points of reference, from which she takes up individual elements such as architectures and architectural forms, academic representations or image motifs. She feeds these into a process dedicated to the layers of knowledge that form around them. In terms of themes, the artist often puts her focus on moments of appropriation that are inherent in cultural techniques and technologies as well as how these are continually reappropriated. The factor of time is almost always an integral part of her research-based work. By initially bringing together elements perceived as incoherent, Pinsky directs perception toward meaningful enrichment of images, enabling lost symbolism to be read. It is not uncommon for forms with which data is collected, the logic of image politics or external representations of major corporations to play a role in this context. For example, past exhibitions revolved around Basel-based chemical and pharmaceutical companies or the settlement of today’s New York and the associated flag symbol of the pine tree, which again found its way into the art world as a motif of the avant-garde in the early 20th century.
In 2008, Pinsky completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; she subsequently graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2012. Her works have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at De Vleeshal in Middelburg, the Netherlands; 303 Gallery in New York, New York; Kunsthalle Basel in Basel, Switzerland; Parallel in Oaxaca, Mexico; White Columns in New York, New York; LACMA Special Projects in Los Angeles, California; and Clearing in Brussels, Belgium. She has also been represented in numerous group exhibitions, including the Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art.