Art News. Vasari Codex

candle obituary schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 9 link 9 artists, 3 galleries

VALIE EXPORT, Icon of Feminist Art, Dead at 85

VALIE EXPORT, the radical Austrian performance artist, filmmaker, and sculptor widely regarded as the most significant feminist artist of the postwar era, died in Vienna on May 14, just three days before her 85th birthday. Her death was confirmed by Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, which represents her. Known for provocative works such as *Tapp und Tastkino* (1968), in which she invited passersby to touch her bare breasts through a miniature theater, EXPORT faced hate mail, death threats, and indecency charges but remained undeterred in her mission to challenge patriarchal norms through the female body and sexual agency.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule May 18, 2026 visibility 6 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

The art world remembers Valie Export, Austrian pioneer of feminist performance art

VALIE EXPORT, the Austrian pioneer of feminist performance art, died on 14 May, three days before her 86th birthday. Her death was confirmed by her representative, Thaddaeus Ropac. Born Waltraud Lehner in Linz in 1940, she developed a radical artistic language centered on the female body, known for works such as *Tap and Touch Cinema* (1968–1971) and *Body Configurations* (1972–1976). Tributes have poured in from artists, writers, and institutions, including the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, where director Stella Rollig noted their ongoing collaboration on the exhibition *Feminist Futures Forever*.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule May 15, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 12 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

Valie Export, Avant-Garde Icon and Feminist Trailblazer, Dies at 85

Valie Export, the Austrian avant-garde artist known for her radical feminist performances, films, and sculptures, has died at age 85. Her gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac, announced her death, noting her groundbreaking work in the 1960s and 1970s introduced a new form of embodied feminism to Europe. Export, born Waltraud Lehner in Linz, Austria, changed her name in 1967 and became known for provocative works such as "Aktionshose: Genitalpanik" (1969) and "Tap and Touch Cinema" (1968–1971), which challenged voyeurism and the sexualization of women's bodies. She also co-founded the Austrian Filmmakers Cooperative in 1968 and was commissioned by the Austrian Broadcast Corporation for her film "Facing the Family" (1971).

newspaper Artnet News Also: Frieze open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule May 19, 2026 visibility 5 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

‘Her crotchless trousers are etched in my brain for ever’: Valie Export remembered by the artists she influenced

Valie Export, the pioneering Austrian feminist artist known for provocative performances like *Tapp-und-Tastkino* (1968) and *Genital Panic* (1969), is remembered by four artists she influenced: Peaches, Florentina Holzinger, Joan Jonas, and Candice Breitz. Each shares personal reflections on Export's radical use of the female body as a political weapon, her confrontational public interventions, and her legacy of civil disobedience against patriarchal structures.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 12 link 10 artists, 1 gallery

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

Austrian artist Valie Export, a pioneering feminist performance and media artist, died on May 14, three days before her 86th birthday. Her death was confirmed by Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery. Export, born Waltraud Lehner in 1940, rejected traditional domestic roles and adopted her iconic all-uppercase name from a cigarette brand. She created guerrilla-style performances and films that directly confronted the male gaze and patriarchal society, often using her own body as a medium. Key works include “Genital Panic” (1968), in which she walked through a Munich cinema in crotchless pants, and “Tapp und Tastkino (Tap and Touch Cinema)” (1968), where she invited strangers to touch her bare breasts through a stage strapped to her chest.

newspaper Hyperallergic open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 10 link 7 artists

Valie Export en 2 minutes

Valie Export (1940–2026), the Austrian avant-garde artist known for radical feminist body art and video, has died at age 85. Born Waltraud Lehner in Linz, she studied design in Vienna before adopting her iconic pseudonym from a Canadian cigarette brand in 1967. Export rose to prominence with her 1969 performance *Genitalpanik*, which critiqued the male gaze and women's societal roles. She became a key figure in body art alongside the Vienna Actionists, later expanding into film and photography. Her first feature *Unsichtbare Gegner* (1976) screened at the Berlinale, and she won the Golden Bear in 1985 for *Die Praxis der Liebe*. She taught in Cologne from 1995 and participated in Documenta 6.

newspaper Beaux Arts Magazine open_in_new Read original