AGNES QUESTIONMARK
b. 1995, ItalyAgnes Questionmark is an acclaimed Italian artist whose multimedia practice—encompassing performance, sculpture, video, and installation—investigates the mutable boundaries of the body and identity through themes of transformation and hybridity.
Early Life and Background
Born in Rome in 1995, Agnes Questionmark (also known as Agnes?) grew up navigating maritime environments, often sailing with her father, a boat architect. This proximity to water and the experience of fluidity has deeply informed her artistic sensibility. Her performances frequently unfold underwater, inviting audiences to reflect on the ephemerality of the body and the limits of what is considered human.
Agnes studied at Camberwell College of Arts, London (BFA), and later pursued an MFA at Pratt Institute, New York. Her journey as a transgender and trans-species artist has been central to the development of her biopolitical outlook, regularly influencing her creative output.
Agnes Questionmark Artworks
The practice of Agnes Questionmark delves into the frontiers of identity and corporeality by entwining mythology, science, and posthumanist thought. She utilises genetic experiments, medical interventions, and immersive installations—often making her own body the site of exploration and transformation, challenging conventions of gender, species, and vulnerability.
Discussing her approach in Sleek magazine, Agnes stated: ‘We’ve already become posthuman—our bodies are commodified, our identities absorbed into technocapitalist systems. Preciado calls this the pharmacopornographic era. Trans, disabled, and non-white bodies most visibly embody this shift—but the potential for transformation exists in all of us, even if it’s invisible.’
In her works, she often appears as a hybrid—part human, part miscreation—locked in a state of perpetual becoming. ‘Failure is central; it opens up the unexpected, the unplanned, the uncontrollable’, she notes. Awarded a scholarship at Pratt Institute, Agnes researched the further integration of marine biology research with experiments in underwater performance.
Selected Seminal Projects and Artworks
- TRANSGENESIS (2021) - A multi-part performance series exploring self-evolution, culminating in a durational work in a repurposed leisure centre. Entering a mirrored, sand-filled chamber adorned with sea life sculptures, viewers witnessed Agnes as a part-human, part-octopus figure. Transgenesis ran eight hours a day for 23 days, embodying trans-species metamorphosis through ritual endurance.
- CHM13hTERT (2023) - Presented at SpazioSERRA, Milan, this performance suspended Agnes for 12 hours daily over more than two weeks. Her body became a symbolic and literal site for exploring hybrid genesis and the social implications of technological extension and bodily coding. The line between scientific experiment, surgery, and evolution was provocatively blurred.
- Cyber-Teratology Operation (2024) - Exhibited at the 60th Venice Biennale, the installation staged a trans body in an operating room, scrutinised under constant surveillance. The performer’s eye also became a monitoring device, fusing self and apparatus. The work exposed the societal pathologisation of trans bodies and celebrated the potential for self-determined transformation.
- Nexaris Suite (2024–25) - Shown at Tenuta Dello Scompiglio, this project envisioned new forms of hybrid humanity, where technology, environment, and embodied identity are entangled. Referencing theorists from Foucault to Preciado, Nexaris Suite speculates on forms of resistance and mutation beyond surveillance and control.
Select Awards and Accolades
- Finalist, 5th Mario Merz Prize (2024)
- Finalist, Darmo Art Prize (2024)
- Finalist, Stromboli Prize (2024)
- Finalist, CIRCA ART X DAZED Class of 2022
- ‘Lorenzo Il Magnifico’ Award, Florence Biennale, Performance Art (2017)
To be kept up to date with news relating to Agnes Questionmark, follow her on Ocula.
Agnes Questionmark Exhibitions
Agnes Questionmark has presented both solo and group exhibitions at significant international institutions and biennials. Below are selected highlights.
Select Solo Exhibitions
- Nexaris Suite, Tenuta Dello Scompiglio, 2024–2025
- TRANSGENESIS, The Orange Garden, London, 2021
Select Group Exhibitions
- 60th Venice Biennale, 2024
- Malta Biennale, Valletta, 2024
- Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva, 2023
- MAXXI Museum, Rome, 2023
- 14th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea, 2023
To be kept up to date with upcoming exhibitions featuring Agnes Questionmark, follow her on Ocula. You can also view her exhibitions on Ocula here.
Website and Instagram
Agnes Questionmark’s website can be found here, and her Instagram can be found here.
Agnes Questionmark FAQs
Who is Agnes Questionmark?
Agnes Questionmark is an Italian contemporary artist whose multimedia practice explores the unstable boundaries of identity, biology, and species. The artist uses her art to foreground the mutability of identity.
You can follow Agnes Questionmark on Ocula to learn more about her work, find art for sale, contact her galleries, and keep up to date with upcoming exhibitions.
Where can I see work by Agnes Questionmark?
Work by Agnes Questionmark has been exhibited internationally at major venues and events including the Venice Biennale, Centre d’Art Contemporain (Geneva), MAXXI Museum (Rome), Malta Biennale, and König Galerie (Berlin).
Follow Agnes Questionmark on Ocula to receive alerts on upcoming exhibitions.
Are there any lesser known and interesting facts about Agnes Questionmark?
Beyond her art, Agnes Questionmark’s lifelong relationship with the sea has shaped her identity as a trans-species artist and inspires the aquatic themes in her performances. Growing up on her father’s boat, Agnes Questionmark developed an affinity for the ocean, which became central to both her personal mythology and artistic motifs.
Follow Agnes Questionmark on Ocula to receive alerts on news about the artist.
Where does Agnes Questionmark live?
Agnes Questionmark lives and works between Rome, London, and New York.
What is Agnes Questionmark’s relationship with fashion?
Agnes Questionmark has been closely involved with the world of fashion, both as a former Gucci model and through appearances in prestigious fashion campaigns, including a campaign for Valentino alongside other trans artists and models. The artist’s collaborations with fashion houses are deeply aligned with her art’s ethos of transformation, hybridity, and theatrical presence—Agnes Questionmark’s full name itself often appearing in dialogues about the avant-garde intersection of art, identity, performance, and style.
How did ‘Agnes Questionmark’ come to have her name?
Agnes Questionmark’s chose her surname ‘Questionmark’ to embody the idea of open-endedness, transformation, and unfixity that lies at the core of her art practice. The question mark signifying her refusal to be categorised, mirroring the speculative, evolving, and hybrid nature of her work and identity.
Ocula | 2025
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