With: Karina Bisch, Pauline Curnier Jardin, Sofie Van Loo, Astrid Seme, Jay Tan, Urara Tsuchiya

Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, who was born Else Hildegard Plötz in Świnoujście, Germany in 1874 and moved from Berlin to the United States in 1910, is often described as an agent provocateur, as a proto-punk poet and artist, even as an iconoclast. During her lifetime she wrote poetry, created body ornaments, sculptures and self-designed garments (‘dada couture’), with and in which she also performed. The Baroness’ practice provoked scandals by raising uncommon questions: what constitutes poetry and performance? What are their intentions? Where are their limits? Her oeuvre, both her (performative) poetry and her visual works, questions, among other things, the role and value of women and sex in a modern society.

The exhibition 'She Is The Future' is an activation of her position and her textual and visual output. The work of different contemporary artists, graphic designers and writers will refer to different aspects of the Baroness’ work, such as her (proto-) performances, her treatment and use of clothing as a common denominator for a hybrid personality, her intermingling of gender roles and the development of modern identities, her promiscuity and the attitude of seeing her body as a work of art, even as an exhibition platform.

Downloads: KVLBulletin_06_Sie ist die Zukunft