April Marten

b. USA, 1969

April Marten works across media including sculpture, installation, performance art, video, and book arts. Born and raised in Miami, FL, Marten’s artistic practice developed out of her personal experiences with—and, ultimately, her escape from—a fundamentalist religious cult. Common themes in her work include the genderdilemma, systems of power and social violence. She employs a queer-feminist lens to look beyond social boundaries. Marten’s work is steeped in process and ultimately invites the audience to engage in active imagination, to establish a visionary relationship with the material world.

Marten’s work has been exhibited nationally, most recently in her first New York City solo exhibition at Monica King Contemporary, and at institutions including Foley Gallery in New York, NY; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; the Bechtler Museum, Charlotte, NC; the Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA; Ewing Gallery, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, GA; Anne Rudd Galyon and Irene Cullis Galleries at Greensboro College, Greensboro, NC, and Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College, Davidson, NC, among others. She recently completed a residency at The McColl Center for Art + Innovation. Her work is in the collections of the Women's Impact Fund, Kennesaw State University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, and in the Ewing Gallery Collection, University of Tennessee. Marten currently lives and works in Charlotte, NC. Her work has been featured in Art Forum, the Observer, and Galerie Magazine, among others.