Geta Brătescu (b. 1926 in Ploiești / Romania, † 2018 in Bucharest) is considered one of the most important conceptual artists in Eastern Europe and beyond. On occasion of her first solo exhibition in a Berlin institution (Geta Brătescu, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, September 27, 2018 – January 25, 2019), curator Magda Radu and art historian Brigitte Kölle talk about Geta Brătescu's multi-faceted artistic practice.

The diverse oeuvre of Geta Brătescu includes drawings, collages made of fabric and paper, graphic works, performances, experimental films and photographs as well as objects and spatial installations. In the artist’s avant-garde work the boundaries between art and life are blurred; at the center of her works are questions regarding female subjectivity and gender, cultural and personal memory, and a permanent examination of the limits of creative expression. Under the socialist rule, Geta Brătescu carved out autonomous spaces and affirmed her independence vis-à-vis a conformist and repressive social system. However, she did not act underground or in isolation from other artistic circles but with reference to contemporary developments in culture. Since the 1990s, she has been working consistently on the formulation of an increasingly diverse artistic vocabulary and continually expanding her experiments with drawing and collage by various durational and performative components. Geta Brătescu’s works have been shown internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including Documenta, Athens and Kassel (2017); Hamburger Kunsthalle (2016); Tate Modern, Liverpool (2015); Venice Biennale (2017; 2013; 1983; 1960); La Triennale, Paris (2012); Tate Modern, London (2012); National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest (2012); Istanbul Biennial (2011); New Museum, New York (2011); São Paulo Biennial (1987; 1983).

Dr. Brigitte Kölle worked as a curator at, among others, the Portikus, Frankfurt/Main; MoMA PS 1, New York; Institute of Visual Arts (INOVA), Milwaukee; Kunsthalle Wien, and Kunstsammlung K21, Düsseldorf. Since May 2011, she has been directing the collection of the Galerie der Gegenwart at Hamburger Kunsthalle, where she curated, among others, solo exhibitions by Louise Bourgeois (2012), Eva Hesse (2013), Gego (2013), and Geta Brătescu (2016).

Magda Radu is a curator and art historian based in Bucharest. She is a founder and co-director of the independent art space Salonul de proiecte – a program focused on the production of new artworks, publications and discursive platforms, building an infrastructure for critical contemporary art production. She has previously worked at the National Museum of Contemporary Art until 2016. In the last few years she curated exhibitions at various institutions, including the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León and Spinnerei, Leipzig, as well as at Photo España, Madrid, and the Art Encounters Biennale in Timișoara. In 2017, she curated the Romanian Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale and presented the project Geta Brătescu – Apparitions.