Artist Valie Export, Who Saw Right Through the Male Gaze, Dies at 85

"Export's performances and filmed media works subverted - nay, stomped on - notions of the male gaze and patriarchal society, reclaiming and reinterpreting the female body through guerrilla modes of delivery that bypassed the restrictions of institutional spaces. Her contributions greatly impacted a Viennese society that Export saw as tainted by the remnants of fascism and its regressive attitudes towards the role of women."

"Born Waltraud Lehner in 1940 in Linz, Austria, Export felt these attitudes keenly in the stigma she experienced for marrying young and having a daughter at 18. She rejected the role of traditional housewife, placed her daughter in the temporary care of her sister, and moved to Vienna to create a new identity, adopting the all-uppercase name VALIE EXPORT."

"The moniker, taken from the Austrian Smart Export cigarettes, not only rejected the traditional conventions of adopting a husband or father's name but also established her as an independent and unique brand. She studied painting, drawing, and design at the National School for Textile Industry in Vienna in the 1960s, amid the rise of the Viennese Actionism movement."

"While inspired by its guttural rejections of a sleepwalking Viennese society in its use of blood, bodily fluids, and taboo, Export pursued her own adjacent and independent role of "Feminist Actionist," using her own body to confront accepted political and societal norms. In 1968, she performed "Genital Panic," in which she walked among the aisles of an arthouse"

Valie Export, an Austrian feminist artist, died on May 14, three days before her 86th birthday. Her performances and filmed media works challenged the male gaze and patriarchal society by reclaiming and reinterpreting the female body through guerrilla modes of delivery that bypassed institutional restrictions. She viewed Viennese society as shaped by remnants of fascism and regressive attitudes toward women’s roles. Born Waltraud Lehner in 1940, she rejected traditional housewife expectations after marrying young and having a daughter at 18. She moved to Vienna, adopted the all-uppercase name VALIE EXPORT, and built an independent identity. Studying art in the 1960s, she developed a “Feminist Actionist” approach, using her own body to confront political and societal norms.

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