Detail

Four relaxed women are leaning on a wall. They are all wearing dark trousers and a large white shirt with a large black stain. Is this a fashion photograph? A black-and-white photograph from a 1990s lifestyle magazine? It might seem so, but these women are artists: Ona B., Evelyn Egerer, Birgit Jürgenssen, and Ingeborg Strobl. Together they are The Ladies. Since 1987, they have been commenting on Vienna’s male-dominated art scene and on politics and society. And why are they looking so skeptically and challengingly into the camera here? The reason is a decision in cultural politics made in 1991. The new post of Austrian Federal Curator for the Fine Arts was awarded to Robert Fleck. As a state curator, he was able to promote projects he personally selected for two years. He had a large budget that he was able to distribute at will with no involvement by independent jurors. The idea that a state curator was able to make such important and far-reaching decisions clearly was a matter of concern for The Ladies. They did not see this as a way to implement the minister’s wish to promote international art exchange. On this postcard, they are wearing the stain like a medal, an award for special services in deepening and making international contacts. This ironic and critical self-enactment is typical of the work of The Ladies. They used the aesthetic means of staged performance and parody events, operating at the interface between the fine arts, fashion, design, and advertising. At the same time, they address transgression of gender roles. In 1993 Ingeborg Strobl was replaced by New York artist Lawrence Weiner as the fourth member of The Ladies.