Rita Fernández (b. 1999), is a Mexican artist graduated from the Royal College of Art (MA: Painting). She has a BA in Philosophy from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
At the intersection of the visual and the conceptual, Fernández’s practice explores the tension between material and meaning by raising questions about the self, womanhood and identity through material-based inquiries. Moreover, Fernández considers that materials are not just vehicles for representation, but active participants in the narrative. Through a deeply personal engagement with the body, she uses her own experience as a starting point to engage with broader questions of materiality, gender and self-representation. She approaches self-portraiture not as a genre but as a matrix, a framework for exploring an everchanging subject. This approach allows her to produce works that fall within a broader narrative system, each piece a node in an ever-expanding exploration of the self.
EDUCATION
2024 MA: Painting – Royal College of Art
2023 BA: Philosophy – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
2020 Diploma: History of Mexican Art – Museo Amparo and Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas UNAM
TEACHING
2023 Teaching Placement – University of Westminster.
2019 Retratos del Ahora: Mural Workshop – Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (UNAM).
TALKS
2025 Painting Programme’s Seminar: Degree Show and Professional Development – Royal College of Art
2025 People Painting Podcast: Episode 11. Hosted by Connor Dillman
2024 Painting Programme Open Day Representative – Royal College of Art
2024 Artist talk – TURPS BANANA Art School.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
September 2026. Personal Preference. Thames-Side Studios Gallery. London
September 2026. Interwoven. Ixchel (part of Chelsea Arts Festival 2026 programme). London
February 2026. Notes for a Shared Space. Temporary Art. London
September 2025. GlogauAIR Open Studios. Berlin
April 2025. Phased Reality. London. SPACE Mare Street
March – April 2025. Fragmented Wholeness. London. Mucciaccia Gallery
February 2025. If Heaven Falls. The LIDO Stores. Margate
November 2024. The Miniatures Challenge. Canal Boat Contemporary. London
September – October 2024. The LIDO Open. The LIDO Stores. Margate
September 2024. The Epitome of Decay and Decline. Safehouse 2. London
August 2024. The Power of Identity: QUEER Art 3.0. The Embassy of Mexico in the United Kingdom’s Cultural Centre. London
August 2024. Heavy like the forces between us. Greatorex Street. London
August – September 2024. Ripples. Hypha Studios. London
February 2024 Body Songs. Fitzrovia Gallery. London
May 2023 [duo] Amanecer/Atardecer. Galería de Artista Cecilia Mancera. Mexico City
February 2023. Tejiendo Visiones. Konesh Arte y Cultura. Mexico City
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
December 2026. [upcoming] A Postcard from Sweden. The Fitzrovia Gallery. London
September 2026. About Restraint and Surrender. Thames-side Woolwich Studios Viewing Room. London. Co-curated by Phillip Allen
AWARDS
The HINE Prize 2024: shortlisted.
RESIDENCIES
The Fitzrovia Gallery’s Summer Residency. Sjöholman. June 2026.
Temporary Art. London. February 2026.
GlogauAIR. Berlin. Summer 2025.
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
Esto Que Ves Aquí No Es: Sobre el Reverso de la Pintura en la Obra de Rita Fernández, Doble Siete Magazine. [https://doblesietemag.com/esto-que-ves-aqui-no-es-sobre-el-reverso-de-la-pintura-en-la-obra-de-rita-fernandez]
Rita Fernández: la materia, la carne y el hilo (Rita Fernández: matter, flesh and thread), JerónimoMx, 2026. [https://jeronimomx.info/rita-fernandez-la-materia-la-carne-y-el-hilo/]
In the Studio with: Rita Fernández, Art in Latin America, 2026. [https://www.artinlatam.com/p/in-the-studio-with-rita-fernandez]
Rita Fernández: In Memory She Awakes, LATAMesa, 2026. [https://latamesa.co.uk/ritafernandez]
Fragmented Wholeness: Painting Between Rupture and Reconstruction, IMPASTO, 2026. [https://medium.com/@impastomag/fragmented-wholeness-painting-between-rupture-and-reconstruction-5c44e82523e3]
6 London Art Graduates to Watch in 2024. Ocula. 2024. [https://ocula.com/magazine/spotlight/london-graduates-young-artists-to-watch-2024/]