Los Angeles, CA  May 19, 2010 — Renowned artist Kaucyila Brooke, an invited exhibitor and speaker at Bucharest Biennale 4, which begins on May 21, 2010, has, without warning, had her work removed from the show.

This de-installation will make Kaucyila Brooke’s work, Tit for Twat, the only project to be censored during the 2010 Biennale.

Ms. Brooke had been formally invited to participate in BB4 by curator Felix Vogel who has been following her work since viewing one of her exhibits in Munich in 2007. Kaucyila Brooke is a highly respected Los Angeles-based artist. Her work has been shown extensively in museums and art galleries throughout Europe and in the United States. She is a member of the faculty at Cal Arts in Los Angeles.

BB4 is produced by Artphoto Asc., the umbrella organization around Pavilion Magazine, as well as the new Centre for Contemporary Art and Culture in Bucharest Pavilion UniCredit. Approximately 45 artists and artists’ groups are expected to present their works/projects in various locations throughout Bucharest, including museums, a former observatory, art galleries and public spaces. Ms. Brooke’s work was assigned to the Geology Institute.

However, once the director of the Geology Institute had viewed the partially installed exhibit, he demanded that it be removed from the museum. No formal explanation has yet to be offered. However, officials at BB4 have indicated they still expect Ms. Brooke to speak—but without having her work exhibited.

“Now the work won’t be shown,” says Ms. Brooke, “because there’s no other institution that’s large enough to accommodate it. I’ve offered to be flexible, to install only part of the project, or show it in several spaces. But there’s neither the space, nor the resources to rent one. And they (BB4) refuse to consider making room within the exhibition that’s already installed.”

Kaucyila Brooke‘s ongoing project, Tit for Twat, is a three part photo montage, photo novella, gender art narrative designed for both exhibition and publication. Its chapters, Madam and Eve in the Garden, Can We Talk?, and It’s Not About Shame. Accessorize!, address the biblical presumption of heterosexuality and its relationship to other theories of origin, notions of innovation and origin in history, creationism, science and material culture.

Kaucyila Brooke’s comprehensive work Tit for Twat, having been developed since the early 1990’s, is one of the seminal works in gender oriented conceptual art of the last two decades. “Its prohibition at the Geology Museum in the frame of the Bucharest Biennale 2010 would not only mean a severe case of censorship but also a very sad denial for the Romanian public to see this outstanding, concise, political but at the same time warm and humorous work,” adds Stella Rollig, Director, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz.

Ms. Brooke’s solo exhibitions include Silberkuppe, Berlin (2009); Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation/ Forum fur Fotographie, Cologne (2008); Galerie Andreas Huber, Vienna (2008. 2006). Recent group exhibitions include Centre D’Art Passerelle, Brest, France; Galician Center for Contemporary Art, Santiago do Compstela, Spain; Kunsthalle Baden Baden, Germany (2009). Ms. Brooke is scheduled to be a guest speaker at the Goethe Institute in Los Angeles, CA, USA on June 24th, 2010, for the lecture series, Big City Forum, organized by Leonardo Bravo. Ms. Brooke is represented by Andersen’s Contemporary Art, Copenhagen; Galerie Andreas Huber, Vienna and the Michael Dawson Gallery, Los Angeles. She is the former Director of the Program in Photography and Media at CalArts in Los Angeles where she has been a regular member of the faculty since 1992.

Photo (above): Los Angeles Artist Kaucyila Brook’s ‘Tit For Twat’ censored at the Bucharest Biennale 2010, displayed with permission from the artist