Bettina Gruber (b. 1947) and Maria Vedder (b. 1948) provided essential inspiration to the medium of video in the Rhenish art scene of the 1980s and have since increased public attention on video art. Working as a duo for several years they produced videos in which they commented on social conventions, especially gender issues, with stage-like dramatizations and humorous, sometimes ironic performances. Their jointly published books Handbuch der Videopraxis (1982) and Kunst und Video (1983) were fundamental to the understanding and dissemination of this new art form. Since the late 1980s, they have been working separately.

Maria Vedder was, from 1991 to 2014, professor of media art at the Universität der Künste Berlin. Bettina Gruber lives in Cologne as a freelance artist.