«Flawless, Seamless» is the first monograph of
Marge Monko, encompassing works from 2014 to 2021. Monko is a visual artist based in
Tallinn, Estonia, who works with photography, moving images, and installation.
Monko's work revolves around gender-emphasising the body and its photographic representation. Many of her works have a link to history and are influenced by psychoanalysis, feminism, and the theory of visual culture. Depending on the subject, Monko has employed methods such as documenting, staging, and appropriating existing images, often through a combination of these different approaches.
The book presents nineteen works that explore what the artist calls «the architecture of desire», drawing inspiration from public banners, print advertisements, shop displays, show windows, etc. These ubiquitous promotional strategies, designed to evoke an abiding, aspirational desire, suggest that the products they represent will fulfil the promise of luxury, romance, and happiness. Monko's interest in these inseparable elements of capitalist society can be traced back to a different kind of desire-one bred by the shortage of commodities, which was common in the former Soviet Union, where the artist grew up.
The works are accompanied by an essay by curator and writer Moritz Scheper and three conversations with Monko's fellow artists and friends:
Erika Hock,
Maruša Sagadin, and
Paul Kuimet. In his text, Scheper makes connections between Monko's earlier and more recent works and elaborates on different femininities prevailing in East and West. The conversations touch upon subjects such as artists' work, materiality, collaboration, and bookmaking.