Renowned feminist artist and film-maker Valie Export dies aged 85

"Most notorious was 1968's Tapp und Tastkino (Tap and Tastkino), for which Export strapped a model theatre stage to her chest and invited shoppers in Vienna's city centre to touch her bare breasts through a tiny curtain. Her artist colleague Peter Weibel rallied passersby through a megaphone, and timed each action with a stopwatch. The work scandalised Austria and Germany in the late 1960s, but has since been recognised as a milestone in feminist art for exposing the objectification of the female body."

"The zeal with which she laid bare patriarchal power structures was also on display in the centrepiece of her 1980 show at the Venice Biennale. Entitled Geburtenbett (Birth Bed), it showed an outsized female abdomen with crooked legs on a mattress, red neon strip lights streaming from her vulva, and a TV transmitting a Catholic mass where the head would be. The imagery connected bodily exposure with institutional religious authority."

"Valie Export, the Austrian performance artist and film-maker who inverted the male gaze in ways that were provocative, shocking and often outrageously fun, has died aged 85. The artist's own foundation announced on Thursday evening that Export died in Vienna earlier the same day, three days before her 86th birthday. She is best known for low-budget performances that scandalised Austria and Germany in the late 1960s, but have since been recognised as milestones in feminist art."

"Valie was one of the most visionary feminist artists to emerge in Europe in the second half of the 20th century, her gallerist Thaddaeus Ropac said in a statement. Her passing marks the loss of a singular perspective in contemporary art, one that influenced artists across generations. Her pioneering work continues to be of such great urgency."

Valie Export, an Austrian performance artist and film-maker, died in Vienna at age 85. Her foundation announced her death earlier the same day, three days before her 86th birthday. She became known for low-budget performances in the late 1960s that scandalised Austria and Germany, later recognised as milestones in feminist art. In 1968’s Tapp und Tastkino, she strapped a model theatre stage to her chest and invited shoppers to touch her bare breasts through a tiny curtain while a colleague directed passersby with a megaphone and timed actions. Her 1980 Venice Biennale centerpiece Geburtenbett presented a large female abdomen on a mattress with red neon lights from her vulva and a TV showing a Catholic mass. Her work is credited with influencing artists across generations.

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