VALIE EXPORT: ‘The war allowed me to discover the body in a very intense way’ An interview with the artist on the occasion of her exhibition in Milan
By Stéphane Renault
Translated from French
Born in 1940 in Linz, Austria, and now based in Vienna, the feminist conceptual artist is presenting works at the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in Milan that engage in dialogue with those of Ketty La Rocca, an Italian artist who was herself an activist and pioneer in the 1960s. This is an opportunity to look back on her career, her struggles and her projects.
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Sexual representation and nudity feature heavily in your work, as in the famous photograph of one of your performances: Aktionshose: Genitalpanik (1969). Was provocation a means of conveying a political message?
Absolutely. It was a way of conveying a message that was political, social and also aesthetic. It was a broader set of messages. For example, the performance Aktionhose: Genitalpanik was based on the principle that we do see naked women in films, but that it is forbidden to ‘consume’ the naked woman. You can't touch them. They are simply represented. That's why I said: what you normally see on screen, you now see in real life; and I walked through the rows of the cinema dressed like that to reinforce this affirmation of female presence and reality. I was very interested in the history of female genitalia because, at the time, it was something hidden, forbidden. In prehistoric times, knowledge of female genitalia was something very important, a great strength and not a weakness. Yet, in our society, we presented it as such.
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In the exhibition at the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in Milan, entitled ‘Body Sign’, your work dialogues with that of Ketty La Rocca. How did you prepare for this exhibition, which includes historical pieces?
I wasn't very familiar with her work. At the time, I couldn't travel abroad much, and she wasn't well represented in German-speaking countries. That's why I'm particularly happy to be exhibiting with her today. Especially by showing these works that she made with her hands. She has always fascinated me because she works on and with her hands. I have also explored this theme extensively. One of my poems says: ‘My hands are my identity (...) and if I lose time, I find it again in my hands.’ This connects me to Ketty La Rocca, because she also considered her hands to be her identity. The exhibition features many works that deal with hands and address the relationship between hands and language.
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In the post-#MeToo era, what are your thoughts on the status of women in society and the legacy of a generation of feminist artists, of which you are one of the leading figures?
Of course, one could say that the #MeToo movement, which I greatly appreciate, is undoubtedly the legacy of that era. It too opposes the Church and religion, and that is very important: defending oneself against the repression exercised by the Catholic Church, but also by all other churches and religious institutions. But there is no interest. It is still considered perfectly normal for a woman to get up early in the morning, make breakfast, take the children to nursery and school, then go to work, do the shopping in the afternoon, cook in the evening, iron or do whatever else needs to be done, put the children to bed, etc. Women's magazines present this as the correct image of women – depicted in high heels and tight-fitting suits, as if they would cook at home dressed like that! It is a woman's job, her duty. However, no one asks whether men really want this, whether they agree with it. I am convinced that there are many men today who take on or share these tasks with women and girls. But this is not made public. I don't know why. It is said that men must work and women must stay at home. This opinion is still widespread, and it is completely destructive.
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