Renzo Martens

Renzo Martens (1973) is a Dutch artist and filmmaker, who lives in Amsterdam, NL and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Renzo Martens studied Political Science at the University of Nijmegen, NL and Visual Art at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten (KASK) of Ghent (Belgium) and the Rietveld School of Art and Design in Amsterdam. After his studies, in 2010, he was artist in residence at the ISCP (International Studio & Curatorial Program) in New York City. In 2013 he was one of the 16 participants at the Signature Leadership Program of Yale University. The artist is currently working on a PhD in Art at the School of Arts in Ghent. He lectured about art, economics and representation at University College London, London School of Economics, Yale University, Goldsmiths (University of London), Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Frankfurt, Germany (courses taught there in English), HEAD (Geneva University of Art and Design) Geneva, Switzerland HISK, (Institute for Fine Arts) and KASK (Royal Academy of Fine Arts) in Ghent. At the beginning of the film White Cube Martens explains that he has profited his whole life from the poverty in Africa and elsewhere and that he now wants to give back. Because, as he says, he “knows a bit about art,” he does that by means of art. Just like Enjoy Poverty the film is being shown all over the world.