Kirsten Justesen (b. 1943, Denmark) is a Danish artist based in Copenhagen. She graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1975 where she studied classical sculpture. A major figure of Body Art, Justesen is best known for her feminist performances and sculptures in which her body is often used to question the traditional and problematic artist-muse relationship. Justesen promotes the female body as her primary focus, moving away from the traditional focus on the female nude subject of the male gaze. In Omstaendligheder [Circumstances] (1973), a series of black and white photographs representing a naked six-month pregnant artist posing with a torso, Justesen investigates the formal qualities of the pregnant body. In 1996, Justesen curated with VALIE EXPORT the exhibition ‘Body as Membrane’ at Kunsthallen Brandts, Odense, Denmark. Justesen’s work was featured recently in the exhibition ‘Live Dangerously’ at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC (2020). Her work has been exhibited in notable exhibitions including Part 2: Maternality, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London (2020); Women House, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC (2018); WOMAN Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna (2017); and WACK!: Art and the Feminist Revolution, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA (2007). Justesen’s work is held in numerous public collections including The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC; The National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen; and the National Gallery in Prague, amongst others. Justesen was awarded the Thorvalsen Medal in 2005 and an honorary grant for life from the Danish Arts Council in 1998.