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Martine Syms

Martine Syms

Martine Syms obtained an MFA from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 2017 and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007. Syms has earned wide recognition for a practice that combines conceptual grit, humor, and social commentary. Using a combination of video, installation, and performance, often interwoven with explorations of technique and narrative, Syms examines representations of Blackness and its relationship to vernacular, feminist thought, and radical traditions. Photo: Danielle Levitt

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The African Desperate

Artist and filmmaker Martine Syms teamed up with writer and poet Rocket Caleshu to create the 2022 film The African Desperate. Starring the artist Diamond Stingily as Palace, the film received rave reviews for its honest and unflinching portrayal—and parody—of the art world. Mixing genres and proceeding according to Syms’s singular aesthetic vision, The African Desperate leads audiences through a twenty-four-hour period in Palace’s life and into questions about education, romance, race, and more. Syms, Caleshu, and Stingily met with Fiona Duncan to discuss the film’s creation.

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