MARTHA ROSLER.
AS IF
24 October 2010 – 30 January 2011
Press Preview:
Friday, October 22 at 12 p.m.
Opening:
Saturday, October 23 at 6 p.m.
GAM-Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art
Via Magenta 31
10128 Turin, Italy
The Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Turin, GAM, presents the new chapter of the GAM Underground Project featuring the first Italian museum survey of Martha Rosler’s work.
AS IF is the term adopted by Martha Rosler to describe her way of working, offering a sketch, a line of thinking, and an exploration of possibilities. This approach uses many modes of production to carry out her investigations, and to imagine a range of possible outcomes, to problematic situations in art and in the wider world. Motivating Rosler’s work is a desire to spur viewers to become aware of the issues that emerge from her practice—and to become active. To a public inclined to exclaim “I could do this!” when facing a contemporary work, Martha Rosler replies “Indeed! please do!”
The exhibition will showcase many of the artist’s major works from 1965 to the present, including pieces from her historic photomontage series, Body Beautiful and Bringing the War Home, in addition to her more recent installation works, including a considerable selection of her photographic series dedicated to spaces of transit: airports, streets, and subways, as well as numerous video works from throughout her career. Her most influential works, which have made an indelible impact on the development of art in the past forty years will be displayed alongside her writings and research documents, offering a unique portrait of the evolution of Rosler’s unparalleled artistic and social commitment.
The show also presents a new project specifically addressing Turin today, investigating aspects of the trafficking in African migrants, particularly African women, in our country.
The aim of this exhibition is not merely to celebrate Rosler’s past achievements but to insist on their continued relevance for the present. Even decades after their first appearance her works retain their power to provoke, posing difficult and perennial questions – about the construction of gender and class identity, the systematic representation of political and cultural “Others”, and the experience of everyday life. Each of these, Rosler reveals, belies the very freedom promised by our modern consumer society.
The works on exhibit are presented following a thematic and systemic order. Works on similar subjects but produced in different years are grouped together to offer a wider view on their coherence and breadth of investigation. Their juxtaposition reveals each work as a committed and coherent examination of different aspects of the social and political life world.
The accompanying publication provides an exhaustive presentation of the artist and her work, offering a range of in-depth research that is as-yet missing from the Italian scene – despite Rosler’s numerous foreign publications. This publication is especially necessary considering Rosler emphasis on the written and spoken word, not only in her practice as an artist but as an internationally acclaimed essayist and lecturer.
The publication, edited by Elena Volpato for Archivebooks, features a collection of scripts, transcripts and textual portions of installations, as well as a comprehensive survey of the works she has created in 45 years of ongoing investigation.
Friday, October 22 at 6 p.m.
MEETING MARTHA ROSLER
GAM Conference Hall
Corso Galileo Ferraris 30
Media Contact: Daniela Matteu – Tanja Gentilini tel. 011 4429523
daniela.matteu@fondazionetorinomusei.it; ufficio.stampa@fondazionetorinomusei.it
Organized by:
GAM-Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art
+39 011 4429518
+39 011 4429595
gam@fondazionetorinomusei.it
comunicazionegam@fondazionetorinomusei.it
Opening Hours:
Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm, Monday closed.
Last admission: one hour prior to closing time.
