Valie Export, whose groundbreaking work questioned the very nature of art and cinema, all through an explicitly feminist lens, has died at 85. The news was confirmed by Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, which represents her. Her death on May 14 came three days before her 86th birthday, according to AFP. “VALIE was one of the most visionary feminist artists to emerge in Europe in the second half of the 20th century,” dealer Thaddaeus Ropac said in a statement. “Her passing marks the loss of a singular perspective in contemporary art, one that influenced artists across generations. Her pioneering work continues to be of such great urgency.” Related Articles Over the course of six decades, Export created a body of work that sought to rethink the very nature of first film and then art. Key to this concern was the body and how both disciplines could be approached and redefined through a more tactile approach. “The center of my work is the body, and moreover, the female body,” she told Tate in 2020. At the center of …