MARTHA ROSLER

What influenced Martha Rosler’s art and activism?

Born in 1943 in Brooklyn, New York, Rosler received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College in 1965. In New York, Rosler was introduced to avant-garde and countercultural movements such as the New Left and would participate in the civil rights movement and protests against the Vietnam War.

She moved to California in 1968, when second-wave feminism was gaining traction—this would influence much of her work, which often addresses social and political issues through a feminist lens. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, San Diego, where she was introduced to video and filmmaking. Rosler later taught at institutions such as Rutgers University in New Jersey and the Städelschule in Frankfurt, Germany.

What are Martha Rosler’s most significant artworks?

One of Martha Rosler’s most well-known series of works is the ‘House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home’ (1967–1972), where she combined images from women’s magazines with scenes from the Vietnam War to critique the disconnect between domestic life and global conflicts. The series echoes the photomontage works of Dada or Pop artists Hannah Hoch and Richard Hamilton, where images from mainstream media are reconfigured and recontextualised in absurdist or jarring ways. Rather than being exhibited in galleries like her other works, works from this series were published in underground publications or were distributed at protests.

In the short film work ‘Semiotics of the Kitchen’ (1975), Rosler parodies traditional cooking shows by demonstrating various kitchen tools, many of which are used in violent or absurd actions. The piece has come to be known as a seminal work of feminist video art.

Another significant project is ‘If You Lived Here...’ (1989), a three-part exhibition addressing housing, homelessness, and urbanism, which involved collaborations with various community members and activists. The project was staged instead of a solo exhibition at the Dia Art Foundation in New York, with the artist instead choosing to foreground a collective action including a broad range of participants such as over 50 artists, filmmakers, architects, squatters, children, and activists. The project was exhibited again in archival form in 2009, at e-flux’s gallery in New York, as well as in Utrecht and Barcelona.

Which exhibitions have featured Martha Rosler’s work?

• Rosler’s work has been showcased in numerous solo exhibitions worldwide. Notable presentations include:
• Martha Rosler, Tate Modern, London (25 July 2022–17 July 2023).
• Museum of Recent Art, Bucharest (14 December 2022–26 February 2023).
• Martha Rosler: Irrespective, Jewish Museum, New York (2 November 2018–3 March 2019).
• Meta-Monumental Garage Sale, Museum of Modern Art, New York (17–30 November 2012).
• Positions in the Life World, International Center of Photography, New York (29 July–1 October 2000).

Her work has also been included in major international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale (2003), Documenta in Kassel, Germany (1982 and 2007), and the Whitney Biennial (1979; 1983; 1987; 1989).

What awards and accolades has Martha Rosler received?

Throughout her career, Rosler has been recognised for her contributions to contemporary art. She was awarded the Spectrum International Prize for Photography from the Stiftung Niedersachsen in 2005, the Austrian Oskar Kokoschka Prize (Austria) in 2006, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guggenheim Museum in 2010, and the Lichtwark Prize (Germany) in 2017.

To keep up with the artist, you can view her website at https://www.martharosler.net/,

Hazel Ellis | Ocula | 2025