RM

RM (formerly Real Madrid) is an artist collective. It deals with the mechanics of revelation in reaction to the secrecy of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and with their impact on the experience of pariahs in disguise. STDs contributed to the gathering of subcultures around their struggles, while carrying a shame that historically contributed to the othering of communities. Alluding to irony and the use of gruesome humour, RM works around the linguistic detours employed to protect the unspoken, turning it into a tool to reclaim one’s own story. Regional products, including fruits and territorial diseases, have been and are ways to indirectly refer to sexual struggles. Instead of excluding them, they root the person to their geographical provenance. Allegorically dressing a medical status with the extra-virginity of olive oil, spilled on the white and red blood cells of a caprese salad.

Their recent exhibitions include Auto Italia, London (2023), CEC Centre d’Edition Contemporaine, Geneva (2023), Swiss Institute, New York (2022), Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (2021), Fondazione ICA Milano (2021), Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva (2021), Quadriennale Roma, Rome (2021), and others.

RM was awarded the Swiss Art Award in 2018 and 2023. The artists have a solo show coming up at Kunst Museum St. Gallen in summer 2024. RM lives and works between Geneva and Berlin.