Schenkung Sammlung Hoffmann: VALIE EXPORT

VALIE EXPORT, Action Pants: Genital Panic, 1969

VALIE EXPORT and the Electoral Wardrobe

With a provocative expression on her face, VALIE EXPORT gazes directly into the camera, defying assigned gender roles. Holding a machine gun, the artist poses with her legs spread wide, wearing a pair of jeans with the crotch cut out so that her naked genital area is exposed. Before the photograph was taken, the artist performed an action in which she adressed male visual pleasure, which in direct confrontation rather revealed prudery: In a Munich art-house cinema, she strolled between the rows of seated viewers wearing these jeans, whereupon the audience left the room in embarrassment.

Exhibition Site Residenzschloss

DATES 20/03/2024—16/09/2024

Such “genital panic” cannot be observed with the electoral wardrobe: Here, the exhibited genital area externalizes virility and power and is an expression of a society that remains patriarchal today. An illustrative example are the doublet and trousers made of a crimson satin weave that are listed in the wardrobe inventory of 1591 as belonging to the Saxon electoral regalia. This robe was likely tailored for Elector Christian I, whose painted portrait is shown in close proximity to VALIE EXPORT’s work. The knee-length trousers have a wide cut and are no longer gathered into ornamented bands, thus pointing to changes in fashion at the turn of the 17th century.

**Exhibition view in the rooms of the Electoral Wardrobe**

The so-called codpiece, however, corresponds to 16th-century trouser fashion, which developed from the tight-ﬁtting hose of the 15th century, a predecessor of trousers worn by men. In the 16th century, fashion adopted ever more striking forms of adornment, using contrasting colours, padding, slits, ribbons and bands to direct attention to the male genitalia – and actually imitating the form of the genitals in textile. Having served no practical function, the cod piece is interpreted today as a symbol of authority, strength and as a sign of male potency in the most general sense. As with the representative clothing of electors, VALIE EXPORT with her Aktionshose: Genitalpanik externalizes and brings to a representational level a kind of war cry. By putting power structures on display, she criticises them. The weapon in her hands reinforces the impression of power and dominance as it is not only an instrument of combat but has equally a tradition as an accessory for intimidation.

The Schenkung Sammlung Hoﬀmann enters contemporary works into a dialogue with objects from the various museums of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, thus opening up new perspectives and levels of meaning for both the contemporary and the historical exhibits.

Further Exhibitions

29/03/2023 —01/07/2024