Marijke De Roover

“All human life on the planet is born of woman. The one unifying, incontrovertible experience shared by all women and men is that months-long period we spent unfolding inside a woman’s body. Because young humans remain dependent upon nurture for a much longer period than other mammals, and because of the division of labor long established in human groups, where women not only bear and suckle but are assigned almost total responsibility for children, most of us first know both love and disappointment, power and tenderness, in the person of a woman.” ― Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution

De Roover's early work focuses on the meaning of identities and the performative aspect of its creation. In previous projects she has researched grass roots politics and the relation between presidential campaigning and Greek Theatre (You can’t spell America w/o me, 2013), how identities exist on the internet in relation tot pop culture (The Selfie Song, 2013), Mormon Lifestyle and musical (A Mitt Summer Night’s Dream, 2014) and the cult of health (Is bio the new avant garde, 2015) and religion (Cosmic Latte, 2016). In her latest work she is dealing with questions regarding the nuclear family, feminism/motherhood and ethics of reproduction.

Marijke De Roover (1990, BE) lives & works in Ghent (BE). She holds a Master in Fine Arts from KASK School of Arts, Ghent (BE) where she was nominated for the Start Point Prize, Prague (CZ). Her work has been shown at among others: Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (NL), Point Ephemere, Paris (FR), UNTITLED, Moscow (RU), BOZAR, Brussels (BE), Extra City (AAW), Antwerp (BE), Mu.ZEE, Ostend (BE), ARCADE, London (UK), ISELP, Brussels (BE), Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main (DE), European Media Art Festival (EMAF), Osnabrück (DE), Broelmuseum, Kortrijk (BE), Beursschouwburg, Brussels (BE), Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (BE) & Soft Focus Institute. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Did You Wake up Feeling Authentic Today? A Twitter Musical’, Arcade, London (UK), ‘#FuckTheNewsstand2014’, Trampoline, Antwerp (BE), 'I cried in front of literally everybody in the entire world' SEAS Knokke (BE), 'Smoothie Conference' at TTTT, Ghent (BE). Upcoming projects will take place at a.o. Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz, Nogent-sur-Marne (FR) & Bergen Assembly, Bergen (NO). She is represented by Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (BE) and ARCADE, London (UK).