Nora Turato: It is what you think it is

Nora Turato
It is what you think it is, 2020
Digital print
24 x 18 inches
Edition of 50
 
Nora Turato’s work is rooted in the versatility of language and its potential as a self-reflexive mechanism. Her frequent fusing of the printed word, image, and performance allows for disruptions in societal norms and models alternative modes of being and communicating. Reminiscent of her poster series that references tobacco health warnings, It is what you think it is displays Turato’s characteristic blending of high and low by combining sophisticated graphic sensibilities with text treatment borrowed from utilitarian manufacturer labels. The bold script is reminiscent of the cultural indicators of advertising, yet the oscillating black, yellow, red, and white squares recall the formal logic of geometric abstraction. This poster is a particularly excellent example of the layered linguistic and visual juxtapositions that are indicative of Turato’s artistic practice.
 
Nora Turato was born in 1991 in Zagreb, Croatia. She graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (2013) and went on to study at both Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem and Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. She has been the subject of several solo exhibitions, including at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; Serralves Museum of Contemporary art, Porto, Portugal (both 2019); Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Siegen, Germany (2020); and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2021). Turato has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including Open Shelf, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO (2016); Standing Still, Lying Down, As If, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI (2018); and Image Behavior, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK (2019). Turato currently lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.