David Maroto
David Maroto is a Spanish visual artist based in The Netherlands. In 2019 he was awarded his PhD at Edinburgh College of Art (supervisors Maria Fusco and Jane McKie), in partnership with the Dutch Art Institute (DAI), where he previously obtained his MFA degree. His PhD project is called 'The Artist’s Novel: The Novel as a Medium in the Visual Arts'. Introducing traits that are particular to narrative literature into the visual arts implies the accentuation of features such as narrative, fiction, imagination and identification. This entails a redefinition of the artistic experience, in which a crucial aspect is the artist’s fantasy of the novel (her desire to increase the accessibility to her work) and the trajectory towards its realisation. This practice-led project will be developed by accompanying the process of creation of a newly commissioned artist’s novel, from its initial fantasy to its final publication.
As a visual artist, he has developed a long-term project called The Book Lovers, in collaboration with Joanna Zielinska (head curator of the performance department in CCA Ujazdowski Castle Warsaw). Since 2011 they have been working on the creation of a collection and bibliography of artists' novels with the continuous support of M HKA (Antwerp). They explore the different ways in which the artist’s novel is not a literary artefact but a medium employed by visual artists, exactly as installation, video, or performance. The collection and bibliography are complemented with a series of exhibitions, performances, publications, and pop-up bookstores. This collaboration has enabled them to engage with a host of international institutions, including de Appel (Amsterdam), Whitechapel Gallery (London), Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw), CCA Glasgow, EFA Project Space (New York), Fabra i Coats (Barcelona), the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art (Warsaw), and Printed Matter (New York), among others.
David has edited various publications, including 'Artist Novels' (Sternberg Press, 2015); 'Tamam Shud' (Sternberg Press, 2018); and Obieg Magazine no. 8, 'Art & Literature: A Mongrel's Guide' (2018); and is currently preparing the publication of his PhD thesis, which includes the novel 'The Fantasy of the Novel' (2019).
After his graduation David Maroto has been extensively involved in DAI's curriculum, as tutor, researcher and member of the Admissions Committee and as curator of a Roaming Assembly:
Read Marianna Maruyama's interview for DAI with David Maroto.