In Memoriam VALIE EXPORT (1940-2026)

On the occasion of what would have been her 86^th birthday, we pay tribute to VALIE EXPORT, one of the most influential, inspiring and fearless artists of the twentieth century.

Born and educated in Linz, she originally studied there at the Kunstgewerbschule (School of Arts and Crafts) before moving to Vienna to study textiles. At the beginning of her career, VALIE was one of the few weavers chosen by Friedensreich Hundertwasser to create his tapestries. Her co-weaver on Verlöschendes Haus/House Fading Away, 1964, was Ingrid Wiener, with whom VALIE formed a lifelong friendship and created many artistic collaborations, including the production of limited edition album, in 1978, Wahre Freundschaft (True Friendship), a copy of which VALIE donated to the Heroines Collection.

Through photography, performance, film and installation, VALIE transformed her own body into a site of protest and resistance. Her work was distinctive, integrating her body in a way that challenged the parameters of taboo and subverted the power relations that created the stereotypical representation of women in post-war domesticity. This was particularly meaningful in Austria, where the housewife was still represented by the slogan Kinder, Küche, Kirche (children, kitchen church) a 19^th century ideology perpetuated by Nazi propaganda to reduce the lives of women to mothers, housewives and churchgoers..

VALIE was not afraid to suffer discomfort or pain for her art. Her film, Remote … Remote (1973), demonstrated extraordinary artistic courage; we see her in front of a police photograph of two children who have been sexually abused by their parents, she cuts her cuticles with a retractable knife until they bleed, the blood dripping into a bowl of milk, provoking a visceral reaction in the viewer and an emotional roller-coaster of symbolism. In 2007, she inserted a laryngoscope camera through her nose to film her epiglottis as she recited her own texts, in The Voice as Performance, Act and Body for the Venice Biennale.

Throughout her life, VALIE EXPORT inspired women to enter the world of art, follow their dreams and be who they wanted to be. Even today, nearly 50 years after her early work, she remains a revelation for many young women encountering her work for the first time. Hopefully, they will feel inspired to continue to push the boundaries of experimental and political art.