The Talking Eye, an exhibition covering works by conceptual North American artist Martha Rosler is scheduled to open at the Museum of Recent Art in Bucharest (MARe) on December 14.

From the start of her career, much of Rosler's art reflected her interest in a variety of social issues. Her interest in feminism is represented in the MARe exhibition by the series of photomontages Body Beautiful (1966–72). She protested against the Vietnam War in the series Bringing the War Home (1967–72), while also taking a sarcastic approach to the behavioral and fashion norms imposed on US waitresses in the 1970s in the series North American Waitress, Coffee-Shop Variety (Know Your Servant Series, No. 1, 1976), also included in the MARe exhibition.

Her concern with the housing crisis, lack of shelter or the destruction of the urban environment through demolitions or investments into ensembles for the over-privileged is represented in the exhibition by the photomontage Brunch a la Loft from: The Rewards of Money, 1987. 

The exhibition also includes photographs in the series In the Place of the Public, started in 1983 and covering the alienating world of transportation, from the nearly fictive universe of airports, seen in their dystopic parallel to the outside world, to the bustling environment of the underground stations.

The exhibition is open until February 26, 2023.

(Illustration courtesy of MARe)

simona@romania-insider.com