VALIE EXPORT is nominated for the exhibition VALIE EXPORT – The Photographs at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (25 February – 29 May 2023) and originated at the Albertina in Vienna.
VALIE EXPORT (b. 1940, Austria) became notorious from the late 1960s for her radical performances and critical examination of women’s role in society and the arts. Pointing out entrenched patriarchal structures in mass media image culture, her fearless artistic practice exposes the role representation plays in the construction of gender, sexuality and social norms.
Through photographs, filmic works, performances and installations, EXPORT deals with key issues including the body and the gaze, performance and the image, and subject and environment. For over 50 years, VALIE EXPORT has influenced generations of female artists, contorting, cutting and deforming her body to expose the profound social oppression of women – a theme that continues to resonate today.
About VALIE EXPORT
VALIE EXPORT is renowned for her contributions to performance art, photography, film and video art. She is a prominent figure in the feminist art movement and is celebrated for her provocative and thought-provoking work addressing issues of gender, identity and the female body. Her work has had a significant influence on the art world and remains relevant in discussions of contemporary art and feminism. In addition to presenting her work in international exhibitions and participating in major exhibitions like the Venice Biennale (1980) and documenta (1977), she curated exhibitions with the focus on feminism and media art. She has taught at institutions including the Art Institute in San Francisco, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee/USA, the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, and Berlin University of the Arts.
VALIE EXPORT has been awarded numerous accolades and prizes, including the Max Beckmann Prize in 2022 and the Grand Decoration of Honor with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria. In 2019 the Roswitha Haftmann Prize recognizing outstanding achievements in the visual arts, the Lebenswerk-Preis (Lifetime Achievement Award) from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education and Women's Affairs and the Gold Decoration of Honor of the City of Linz for Services to Culture in 2015, the Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts (2014, together with Laurie Anderson, Marianne Faithfull, Gustav Metzger), the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (2005), the Alfred Kubin Prize (2000), the Oskar Kokoschka Prize (2000) and the Gustav Klimt Prize (1998).
