Skip to content
Martha Rosler
The Bowery in two inadequate descriptive systems, 1974-1975

Rosler juxtaposes a sequence of black-and-white photographs taken in the Bowery, a Manhattan skid-row neighborhood, with words and phrases used to describe alcoholics, drunkenness, and alcoholism. She deliberately avoids depicting any of the human victims her work alludes to, either by photographing them or offering first-person testimony.

Instead, her work operates in a cool, even ironic manner. Her straightforward pictures suggest the hopelessness of a neighborhood stuck in an economic dead end, while the accompanying catalogue of alcoholism-related language is elaborate, excessive, and even darkly humorous at times.

In the end, the overriding mood is anything but upbeat. Rosler’s careful pairing of word and image implies that something here is desperately wrong, but she leaves viewers to decide for themselves exactly what the meaning conveyed by these two “inadequate descriptive systems” might be.

Artwork Info

Artwork title
The Bowery in two inadequate descriptive systems
Artist name
Martha Rosler
Date created
1974-1975
Classification
installation
Medium
gelatin silver prints on board
Dimensions
each diptych panel 10 in. × 22 in. (25.4 cm × 55.88 cm)
Date acquired
1995
Credit
Collection SFMOMA
Accessions Committee Fund purchase: gift of Jean and Jim Douglas, Doris and Donald Fisher, Evelyn Haas, and Pam and Dick Kramlich
Copyright
© Martha Rosler
Permanent URL
https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/95.117.A-X
Artwork status
Not on view at this time.

Other Works by Martha Rosler

Please note that artwork locations are subject to change, and not all works are on view at all times.

Only a portion of SFMOMA's collection is currently online, and the information presented here is subject to revision. Please contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to verify collection holdings and artwork information. If you are interested in receiving a high resolution image of an artwork for educational, scholarly, or publication purposes, please contact us at copyright@sfmoma.org.

This resource is for educational use and its contents may not be reproduced without permission. Please review our Terms of Use for more information.