The private becomes political
From May 2017, mumok is presenting more than 300 artworks that show how women artists in the 1970s first began to collectively redefine their own image of woman.
In the 1970s women artists emancipated themselves from the roles of muse and model, rejecting their status as objects in order to assert themselves as subjects actively participating in social and political processes.
One-dimensional role ascriptions as mothers, homemakers, or wives were radically challenged—often using strategies of irony. Key themes were the discovery of female sexuality, the use of women’s own bodies, countering clichés and stereotypical images of women, the dictate of beauty, and creating awareness for violence against women. The women artists of this generation were united in their committed rejection of traditional normative notions of how women were expected to live.
This exhibition is not a women’s exhibition, but a thematic exhibition. It brings together artists born between 1930 and 1958. There is a total of 48 European, North and South American artists, including eight Austrians: Renate Bertlmann (born 1943), Linda Christanell (born 1939), VALIE EXPORT (born 1940), Birgit Jürgenssen (1949–2003), Brigitte Lang (born 1953), Karin Mack (born 1940), Friederike Pezold (born 1945), and Margot Pilz (born 1936).
The exhibition is divided into four sections:
The Reduction to Mother, Housewife, and Wife
Alter Ego: Masquerade, Parody, and Roleplays
Female Sexuality versus Objectification
The Normativity of Beauty
The exhibition is curated by Gabriele Schor (Director, COLLECTION ASSOCIATION) with Eva Badura-Triska (curator mumok).
Place of exhibition:
mumok
MuseumsQuartier
Museumsplatz 1
1070 Vienna, Level 3, 4
Opening hours:
Mon: 14.00-19.00
Tue-Sun: 10-19.00
Thu: 10.00-21.00
Entrance:
normal 11 Euro, reduced 8,50 Euro bzw. 7,50 Euro
