Marble statues are full of myths; myths of greatness, myths of whiteness, myths of the idealized body. Mighty Greek heroes and Roman nobility have murdered their wives, abducted and raped the innocent, and are immortalized in stone. Like Pygmalion, man grew enamored with his own creation and had the sculptures, sometimes limbless or member-less, erected in gardens and buildings to be admired by all. In Aura Rosenberg’s second solo exhibition with Martos Gallery, and her first presentation at our Chinatown location, these statues share a bit more with the viewer than learned histories or myths.
For Statues Also Fall In Love, Rosenberg presents ten large lenticular images and a constellation of marble stones. The lenticular prints are layered with two images: First, photographs of marble statues that were taken by Rosenberg in gardens and museums in New York and Berlin; Second, pornographic images of bodies found in the same pose or gesture as the statues. Through a dance with the viewer, the flesh is made out of stone and stone out of flesh, changing and challenging the prevailing gaze.
The untitled constellation of stones on the floor are a mix of marble and cutouts of statues. Continuing themes from Rosenberg’s Dialectical Porn Rocks, this new sculpture is a familiar conversation between nature and the presumed naturalness of sex.
Rosenberg has continued to challenge notions of transgression, sexuality and repression. Her work considers how certain actions produce images and ideas that can all at once seem to lose part of their idiosyncratic expression and yet remain frozen, frozen in both time and place.

Opening reception: March 1, 6 - 8 pm

mpefm USA art press release