Roee Rosen

Overview

(b. 1963 in Rehovot, Israel, lives and works in B'nai Zion, Israel)

Roee Rosen's paintings, films, and writings have become known for their historical and theological consciousness, novelistic imagination, and psychological ambition. His work addresses the representation of history, the political economy of memory, and the politics of identity, often exploring the tension between trauma, horror, humor, and truth.

In untold variations, he typically links current Israeli and world politics with mythical and political references to European and Jewish history. Using a vast array of fictional characters and iconographic motifs and codes, Rosen frequently refers to, and transforms, not only the canon of the historical avant-garde and transgressive traditions from the Marquis de Sade to Georges Bataille, but also popular media, political propaganda, and classic children's fairy tales.

Biography

Roee Rosen teaches art and art history at Bezalel Academy of Art and at Beit Berl College. In 1997 Rosen’s controversial exhibition Live and Die as Eva Braun at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, was aggressively attacked by Israeli politicians. It won critical praise, however, for its new approach to the representation of the memory of the Holocaust.

Rosen took part in Steirischer Herbst, Graz, with the performance Kafka for Kids (2018). His solo exhibition Histoires dans la pénombre (Stories in the Dark) was on view at Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the retrospective of his filmic work Douce sueur (Sweet Sweat) presented at Centre Pompidou in collaboration with Jeu de Paume, Paris (2018). His one-person projects, screenings, and exhibitions have been shown at Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art, Oldenburg, Germany (both 2016), Center of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2009). His work was part of Athens Biennale (2018) and documenta 14 (2017).

Rosen has taken part in numerous international film festivals such as Transmediale, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany; FIDMarseille International Film Festival, Marseille; The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany, Viennale International Film Festival, Vienna; Rotterdam International Film Festival; DOK LEIPZIG, amongst others. Screenings in public institutions include BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium (2015), MUMOK, Vienna (2014), Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (2013), Tate Modern, London, UK (2010).

Works