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 and a background in the film industry.

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. 

Her philosophical formation plays an important role in the way she conceives and approaches her work.

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

2024 Artist talk – TURPS BANANA Art School.

2023 Teaching Placement – University of Westminister.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Body Songs. Fitzrovia Gallery. London. March 2024.

I am not cruel, only truthful. The Hockney Gallery. London. April 2024.

Master’s Exhibition. The Royal College of Art. London. June 2024.

Ripples. Hypha Studios. London. August – September 2024.

QUEER 3.0. Embassy of Mexico in The United Kingdom. London. August 2024.

The Epitome of Decay and Decline. Safehouse 2. London. September 2024. 

The LIDO Open. The LIDO Stores. Margate. September – October 2024.

The Miniatures Challenge. Canal Boat Contemporary. London. November 2024.

Seeing Loud. Zebra’s Room at Hootananny. London. November 2024. 

If Heaven Falls. The LIDO Stores. Margate. February 2025. 

Fragmented Wholeness. London. Mucciaccia Gallery. March – April 2025. 

AWARDS

The HINE Prize 2024: shortlisted.

RESIDENCIES

GlogauAIR, 2025. 

PRESS & PUBLICATIONS

6 London Art Graduates to Watch in 2024. Ocula. 2024.

Sarah Larby, Artists and Their Tools, UAL, 2024. 

Can you actually afford an MFA’s grad work? Plaster. 2025.