Shock, Screens & Big Money: Why Valie Export Is the Feminist Art Legend You Need to Know Now

Body as weapon, camera as proof: Valie Export’s radical feminist performances are suddenly back in the spotlight – and collectors are paying serious money. Here’s why her work is a must-know in 2026.

Is this still art – or open attack? If you're into bold visuals, feminist rage and performances that feel like a live protest, Valie Export is your new obsession. Her work looks like it was made for the TikTok era – except she started staging these "content shocks" decades before social media even existed.

Now museums are putting her center stage, critics call her a pioneer of media art and body politics, and the market is finally waking up. Translation: cultural legend status plus growing price tags.

Willst du sehen, was die Leute sagen? Hier geht's zu den echten Meinungen:

• Watch the wildest Valie Export performances on YouTube
• Dive into iconic Valie Export shots trending on Instagram
• Scroll TikTok reactions to Valie Export's most radical actions

The Internet is Obsessed: Valie Export on TikTok & Co.

The images that made Valie Export famous are exactly the kind of thing that would go viral today: a woman turning her own body into a weapon against the male gaze, using cameras, prosthetics and public interventions as tools. Think performance art that looks like IRL social commentary, decades before "content creator" was a word.

On YouTube, you'll find grainy but intense footage of her performances, plus museum walkthroughs breaking down why she blew up in art history. On TikTok and Instagram, people react to her most extreme works with hot takes like: "She did this before anyone talked about body autonomy on the internet" or "This is literally anti-male-gaze performance art".

The vibe: raw, confrontational, very screenshotable. Photos of her dragging a man on a dog leash or turning her torso into a living cinema screen look like politically charged editorial shoots – except they actually happened in public spaces, with real crowds, real risk, real consequences.

Masterpieces & Scandals: What you need to know

If you want to sound like you actually know what you're talking about when Valie Export comes up, these are the must-know works everyone references:

• "Tap and Touch Cinema" (Tapp- und Tastkino)
  One of the most iconic feminist performances of the twentieth century. Export straps a kind of mini cinema screen-box over her bare chest and walks through the city, inviting passers-by to "watch a film" by putting their hands inside the box to touch her breasts. It sounds insane because it is: the usual sneaky, one-sided male gaze is turned into a public, awkward, fully consent-based act where the woman sets all the rules. Today, screenshots and stills from this action circulate as legend status feminist imagery – and museums constantly use it on posters and feeds.
• "Genital Panic" (Aktionshose: Genitalpanik)
  The work everyone posts when discussing radical feminist art. In the most famous version, Export appears in trousers with the crotch cut out, crotch exposed, holding a gun, staring the viewer down. The photo has become an icon of female rage and refusal, printed on posters, album covers, T-shirts, you name it. Fun fact: for years people thought it was just edgy photography; now more and more users discover the performance backstory and post deep-dive explainers breaking it down as a direct attack on how women's bodies are consumed in media.
• "Aus der Mappe der Hundigkeit" (From the Portfolio of Doggedness)
  Another infamous city action: Valie Export walks through public space while a man – artist Peter Weibel – crawls behind her on all fours, on a leash. The gender power dynamic is completely flipped: the traditional patronizing "woman as pet" image is reversed into a sharp, brutal commentary on control, obedience and how women are usually positioned. Today, this piece hits the algorithm as a hyper-visual meme of dominance and gender reversal – but behind the viral look is a serious read on society.

All three works hit exactly where today's debates live: body autonomy, consent, power, gender, the right to control your own image. That's why they feel strangely contemporary, even though they were created long before the word "cancel culture" existed.

The Price Tag: What is the art worth?

Let's talk Big Money. Valie Export is not a random newcomer chasing hype; she's a historical key figure in feminist and media art. That matters for prices. Her unique photo works and early performance-related pieces have achieved solid five-figure to strong five-figure prices at major auctions, and some complex works and large-scale pieces have pushed into the high-value bracket with serious bids from international collectors.

Public auction databases and reports from the big houses show that her most iconic photo works and editions tied to legendary performances are the ones hitting the upper ranges. While not at the ultra-"blue chip millionaire" level of the most aggressively traded names, Export sits in that sweet spot: respected by museums, steadily collected, and increasingly recognized as essential art history. That combination tends to age well in terms of value.

For young collectors and culture investors, this means: you're not speculating on an overnight hype; you're tapping into a canonized artist whose influence on media culture and feminist discourse is basically locked in. Especially works tied to her big performances or early video and photo series are seen as key pieces and can command Top Dollar when they appear.

Behind those price tags is a long trajectory: Valie Export started out in Austria, broke with conservative norms, and quickly became a central voice in the women's movement, media critique and performance art circles. She represented her country at major international exhibitions, appeared in countless museum shows across Europe and beyond, and helped define how we think about the female body in the media age. Museums, scholars and younger artists quote her constantly – which is exactly the kind of long-term relevance serious collectors look for.

See it Live: Exhibitions & Dates

The best way to understand Valie Export isn't just scrolling pictures – it's seeing the works live. Her performances live on through video installations, large-format photographic works, and immersive setups that reconstruct her legendary actions in the museum space.

Current and upcoming exhibitions can shift quickly, but here's the reality check based on the latest information: major institutions regularly include her in group shows on feminist art, performance history, body politics and media art, and galleries like Thaddaeus Ropac present her work in focused displays for collectors and fans. If you're hunting for a must-see show right now and don't see clear dates listed, don't panic.

No current dates available for a large headline solo exhibition could simply mean new projects are in the pipeline or that her works are spread across different group shows at the moment. Museums often include Export in themed exhibitions without blasting her name in the title, so it's worth reading the fine print.

For the most up-to-date info on what's on and where you can walk right up to the iconic images and videos, check these sources:

• Official artist & foundation / project info – look out for sections on exhibitions, projects and news.
• Thaddaeus Ropac gallery page for Valie Export – artworks, past shows, texts and contact for serious collector questions.

If you spot her name in a museum program near you, treat it as a Must-See. Live, these works hit different – especially when you stand in front of a huge print of "Genital Panic" or watch the video documentation of "Tap and Touch Cinema" with a crowd around you reacting in real time.

The Verdict: Hype or Legit?

So where does Valie Export land on the spectrum between Art Hype and long-term classic? Let's be blunt: the internet may have just rediscovered her, but the art world never forgot her. She's legit legend status – and the current buzz is more like a long-overdue update than a passing trend.

If you're into safe, pretty wall decor, her work will probably make you uncomfortable. If you care about who controls images of women, how power is staged and how art can feel like a live protest, she's non-negotiable viewing. Her performances are basically the ancestor of today's viral protest clips – just without cuteness or filters.

For fans: add her to your must-know list, watch the videos, screenshot the works and read the backstory – it only makes the imagery hit harder. For young collectors: this is the kind of artist whose influence will still be taught and reposted long after short-term hype cycles are forgotten. The audience might be catching up now, but the work has been ahead of its time for decades.

Bottom line: not just hype – absolutely legit. And if you want your art knowledge to match your feed energy, Valie Export is essential viewing.