the dual and oppositional threats of alienation and
unwarranted personal exposure and implies that
alienation provides privacy. She captures the am-
biguous nature of late twentieth-century society,
complicated by the densely populated urban sprawl
that highlights personal issues such as gender, dis-
location, and homelessness.
Rosler’s work poses questions of identity and
experience to the viewer and audience, making her
project more conceptual than formally orientated.
The work is relevant to photographic history, art
history, sociology, women’s studies, urban studies,
and cultural studies. She has also produced a series
of writings, and film and video works that have
expanded her influence.
RachelWardSeealso:Conceptual Photography; Feminist Photo-
graphy; Representation and Gender
Biography
Martha Rosler was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1944.
She received a B.A. from Brooklyn College, New York
in 1965 and her M.F.A. from University of California,
San Diego, California in 1974. Visiting Artist, Simon
Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, 1979; Visiting
Artist residency in video and photograpy, The School
of The Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois, 1985 and others.
Began publishing critical writings inArtforumand other
magazines, 1975. Member of the Association of Inde-
pendent Film and Video, College Art Association,
Media Alliance and the Society for Photographic Edu-
cation. Teaches at the Mason Gross School of the Arts
of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and
lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Individual Exhibitions
1975 The Kitchen; New York, New York (with Allan Sekula)
1977 Foul Play in the Chicken House; Long Beach Museum
of Art; Long Beach, California
1978 Against the Mythology of Everyday Life; and/or Gal-
lery; Seattle, Washington
1979 Orange Coast College Photography Gallery; Costa
Mesa, California
University Art Museum, University of California;
Berkeley, California
1986 Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies and eztv;
Los Angeles, California
1987 Focus: Martha Rosler; Institute of Contemporary Art;
Boston, Massachusetts
1988 Martha Rosler: Four Works; Viewpoints on Video
Cable Series organized by the Long Beach Museum of
Art; Broadcast throughout California
1991 Focus on Southern Africa: Nancy Buchanan, Mzwakhe
Mbuli, Martha Rosler; Otis/Parsons Art Institute Gal-
lery; New York, New York
Bringing the War Home; Photomontages from the Viet-
nam War Era; Simon Watson Gallery; New York, New
York
1992 Seattle: Hidden Histories; Public art project in the series
In Public;Sponsored by the Seattle Arts Commission
An Empty Space in Ottensen: Contaminated by His-
tory, Capital, and Asbestos.In the projectStadtfahrt—
City Tour);Hamburg, Germany
In the Place of the Public;Jay Gorney Modern Art,
New York, New York
1994 Palais des Beaux Arts; Brussels, Belgium Ku ̈nstle-
rhaus; Stuttgart, Germany
In the Place of the Public; Contemporary Arts Center;
Cincinnati, Ohio
1998 In the Place of the Public; Frankfurt Airport, spon-
sored by the airport and Museum fu ̈r Moderne Kunst;
Frankfurt, Germany
1999 Martha Rosler: Positions in the Life World;IKON
Gallery; Birmingham, England and traveling to Institu-
tion d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne, France and Museu
d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainGroup Exhibitions
1974 Impact Art–Video Art ‘74; Muse ́e des Arts De ́coratifs;
Lausanne, Switzerland
Images by Women; University of California; San
Diego, California
1975 Information; San Francisco Art Institute; San Fran-
cisco, California
1976 Last Correspondence Show; California State Univer-
sity at Sacramento; California
Social Criticism and Art Practice; San Francisco Art
Institute; San Francisco, California
1977 American Narrative/Story Art, 1967–1977; Contem-
porary Arts Museum; Houston, Texas and traveling to
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Canada and
University Art Museum, Berkeley, California
1978 Whitney Biennial; Whitney Museum of American Art;
New York, New York
Public Disclosure: Secrets from the Street; San Fran-
cisco Museum of Modern Art and City Hall; San Fran-
cisco, California
1980 Art of Conscience; Wright State University; Dayton,
Ohio. Traveling under the sponsorship of the Ohio
Foundation for the Arts
1981 Erweiterte Fotografie(Extended Photography); Vienna
Secession; Vienna, Austria
1981 Books by Artists; Winnipeg Art Gallery; Ottawa, Ca-
nada; and traveling
1982 A Decade of Women’s Performance Art; Art Gallery,
University of California; San Diego, California
Documenta 7; Kassel, Germany
Seventy-Fourth American Exhibition; Art Institute of
Chicago; Chicago, Illinois
1983 Political Photography; Stockton State College; Pomo-
na, New Jersey
Whitney Biennial; Whitney Museum of American Art;
New York, New York
Roles, Relationships, Sexuality; Long Beach Museum
of Art; Long Beach, California
Mediated Narratives; Institute of Contemporary Art;
Boston, Massachusetts
Video Art: A History, Part II; Museum of Modern
Art; New York, New York and traveling
Content: A Contemporary Focus, 1974–1984; Hirsh-
horn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Insti-
tution; Washington, D.C.ROSLER, MARTHA