Martha Rosler: Meta-Monumental Garage Sale

Unique Opportunity for Museum Visitors to Locate Bargains and Engage in Real and Fictive Exchanges and Interactions with the Artist

For her first solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, from November 17 through 30, 2012, multi-media performance artist Martha Rosler (American) will present her work Meta- Monumental Garage Sale, a large-scale version of the classic American garage sale, in the Museum's Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium. MoMA visitors will be able to browse and purchase second-hand goods that are organized, displayed, and sold by the artist and her floor assistants. The installation is organized by Sabine Breitwieser, Chief Curator, and Ana Janevski, Associate Curator, with Jill A. Samuels, Performance Producer, Department of Media and Performance Art.

Meta-Monumental Garage Sale will fill MoMA's Marron Atrium with strange and everyday objects—clothes, books, records, toys, bric-a-brac, costume jewelry, artworks, mementos, and other miscellaneous items—donated by the artist, her family and friends, Museum staff, and the general public, creating a lively space for exchange, not only for consumer goods, but also for real and fictive narratives, ideas, and interactions with the artist. Rosler will be running the sale on a daily basis, engaging with Museum visitors, who will be encouraged to browse merchandise, choose items to buy, haggle over prices, and make purchases. Customers will also be invited to have their photographs taken with their purchases.

Martha Rosler is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of her generation, one whose artistic practice, teaching, and writing continue to influence succeeding generations. For more than 40 years, Rosler has made art about the commonplace, art that illuminates social life, examining the everyday through photography, performance, video, and installation.

Meta-Monumental Garage Sale will be open daily, November 17-30, 2012, Wednesday through Monday, 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m., and Friday, 12:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. The Museum is closed on Tuesdays.

Martha Rosler:
Meta-Monumental Garage Sale
A Large-Scale Installation and Performance