Dóra Maurer, What Can One Do with a Paving Stone?, 1971
Dóra Maurer
What Can One Do with a Paving Stone?

Dóra Maurer (*1937, Hungary) is one of the most important figures of Hungarian art since the 1970s. Together with Orshi Drozdik and Judit Kele, she was one of the pioneers of feminist body and performance art in Hungary. In her analysis of the medial image of photography and video, Maurer’s mise-en-scènes negotiate the processes involved in perception, construction of reality and subversion of gender norms. In the early 1980s, she began exploring abstract painting and spatial concepts in her conceptual and geometric abstractions in photography, film and graphic art.

artist's website: doramaurer.com

The cobble stone is a symbol of popular uprisings and riots. This direct reference to Hungary’s recent history in 1956 acquires new paradoxical meaning in Maurer’s performance in a rural setting. She ties and wraps the cobble stone like a gift, alternately holding it in her arms and caressing it like a baby. This sensual performance combines the artist’s politics with her female stance against all forms of militancy.

Courtesy Dóra Maurer
Document media
Photographs

Issue date
1971

Relations
Orshi Drozdik (DRO 1)
Orshi Drozdik (DRO 2/P)

Tags
body object relation, public space, resistance