Abstract
This article looks at the allusions made by Austrian artists Birgit Jürgenssen and Assunta Abdel Azim
Mohamed to the historical genres “Dance of Death” and “Death and the Maiden”. I examine in
particular Jürgenssen’s series “Totentanz mit Mädchen” and “Untitled Polaroids” (also known as the
“Death and the Maiden” polaroids). I raise the significance of her titles and argue that she is dancing
with the genre, in effect with art history itself. Then I consider Mohamed, 43 years Jürgenssen’s junior.
I propose her as an heir of Jürgenssen. I argue that one of the reasons both artists allude to the two
traditional genres is in order for the work to address the nature of art itself.
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