Valie Export remembered by Peaches, Joan Jonas, and others

Valie Export, the fearless feminist performance artist, died last week. Peaches, Florentina Holzinger, Joan Jonas, and Candice Breitz pay tribute. Peaches recalls Export's Tapp-und-Tastkino (Tap and Touch Cinema) as important as Yoko Ono's Cut Piece. Holzinger wrote a paper on Export at age 14 and notes the enduring relevance of Export's subversion of nudity. Jonas calls Export bold, radical, innovative, passionate, brave, and generous, citing works like Grope and Touch (1968), Genital Panic (1969), and Encirclement (1976). Breitz highlights Export's civil disobedience, including dragging curator Peter Weibel through Vienna on a leash in 1968. Breitz also notes Export's use of photography and film to critique mass media, as seen in her Body Configurations series and her 2024 exhibition at the Photographers' Gallery.