Valie Export/Fragments of the Imagination

by Roswitha Mueller

"This sumptuously illustrated volume is the first in English devoted to this important Austrian avant-gardist." ―Choice "Roswitha Mueller offers a sorely needed overview of Valie Export’s work in this comprehensive study.... the sheer breadth of Mueller’s research constitutes an important contribution to film criticism... " ―Austrian Studies Newsletter An early, groundbreaking performance artist, Valie Export created a philosophy of "Feminist Actionism" and in multimedia performances used the female body to critique male spectatorship. Here Roswitha Mueller examines Export’s performance work, her photography and films, and her critical writings and interviews.

Genres: Art

256 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[Evan Pincus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure, it's a work of 90's feminist criticism, so there's a lot of Mulvey (not a bad thing, just a reminder of a time in The Discourse where she was all we had!) and some discussions of Freud and Barthes that I don't quite gel with, but it's an intelligent and comprehensive overview of an intelligent and comprehensive artist, which is just about exactly what I was hoping for when I picked it up. I was largely unfamiliar with Export's work, having only seen a performance of Abstract Film no. 1 (remarkable!), and this book made me hungry to engage with more of it!

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A satisfactory if perhaps a bit functional gloss/overview on Valie Export's entire oeuvre.