leonor antunes
1972, Lisbon
Engaging with the history of 20th century architecture, design, and art, Leonor Antunes reflects on the function of everyday objects and the potential of modernist forms to become sculptures. She investigates the coded values and flow of ideas embedded within objects and transforms them into reimagined abstract structures. Integrating materials such as rope, wood, leather, and brass, Antunes quietly rattles the aesthetic traces of modernism to foresee a revived way of thinking: looking forward by looking back. Borrowing from vernacular traditions of craftsmanship from South America, Mexico, and Portugal, the artists seeks to understand the construction principles behind rational designs and the process of reducing reality to a geometric abstraction. The grid, present in most of the art works, objects, and buildings she references, is transformed into brass nets, interlaced and knotted strings, leather straps, and looms of hand-woven cotton threads. She finds inspiration in the practice of female artists: their radical social and political stances and their practical improvement of everyday life through art and design.
Leonor Antunes lives and works in Berlin.
a secluded and pleasant land, in this land i wish to dwell, 2014
bamboo, silk wengue wood
variable dimensions
installation view, 8th berlin biennale for contemporary art, kw institute for contemporary
art, berlin, 2014
raumplan, 2011
variable dimensions
installation view, galeria luisa strina, são paulo, 2013
raumplan, 2011
variable dimensions
installation view at galeria luisa strina, são paulo, 2013
discrepancies with m.g., 2011
brass, nylon rope, cork, rubber
variable dimensions
installation view, museo experimental el eco, mexico city, 2011
discrepancies with m.g., 2011
brass, nylon rope, cork, rubber
variable dimensions
installation view, museo experimental el eco, mexico city, 2011
discrepancies with m.g., 2011
brass, nylon rope, cork, rubber
variable dimensions
installation view, museo experimental el eco, mexico city, 2011
discrepancies with m.g., 2011
brass, nylon rope, cork, rubber
variable dimensions
installation view, museo experimental el eco, mexico city, 2011
discrepancies with m.g., 2011
brass, nylon rope, cork, rubber
variable dimensions
installation view, museo experimental el eco, mexico city, 2011
the last days in chimalistac, 2013
leather, hemp rope, bamboo, linen thread, oak
variable dimensions
installation view, kunsthalle basel, switzerland, 2013
anni, 2015
leather, cotton rope
157.48 x 59.06 x .79 in.
installation view of i stand like a mirror before you, kiosk, ghent, belgium, 2015
i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view of i stand like a mirror before you, kiosk, ghent, belgium, 2015
i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
leather, cotton rope
variable dimensions
installation view of i stand like a mirror before you, kiosk, ghent, belgium, 2015
i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
plexiglass, brass plates, brass screws
86.61 x 92.13 x 11.61 in.
installation view, kiosk, ghent, belgium, 2015
i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
plexiglass, brass plates, brass screws
86.61 x 92.13 x 11.61 in.
installation view, kiosk, ghent, belgium, 2015
le plan pliable, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view, centre d'art contemporain de bordeaux, france, 2015
le plan pliable, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view at centre d'art contemporain de bordeaux, france, 2015
le plan pliable, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view, centre d'art contemporain de bordeaux, france, 2015
le plan pliable, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view, centre d'art contemporain de bordeaux, france, 2015
the umpredictability of possible future uses, 2015
mixed media
variable dimensions
installation view of the past, the present, the possible, sharjah biennial 12, sharjah, united arab emirates, 2015
the umpredictability of possible future uses, 2015
mixed media
variable dimensions
installation view of the past, the present, the possible, sharjah biennial 12, sharjah, united arab emirates, 2015
the umpredictability of possible future uses, 2015
mixed media
variable dimensions
installation view of the past, the present, the possible, sharjah biennial 12, sharjah, united arab emirates, 2015
the umpredictability of possible future uses, 2015
mixed media
variable dimensions
installation view of the past, the present, the possible, sharjah biennial 12, sharjah, united arab emirates, 2015
the umpredictability of possible future uses, 2015
mixed media
variable dimensions
installation view of the past, the present, the possible, sharjah biennial 12, sharjah, united arab emirates, 2015
the umpredictability of possible future uses, 2015
mixed media
variable dimensions
installation view (detail) of the past, the present, the possible, sharjah biennial 12, sharjah, united arab emirates, 2015
the thread is so tiny, that the eye, though armed with a magnifying glass, suspects it, rather than use it II, 2013
ipe wood, tola wood, nylon yarn, lamps, brass, iron, bulbs, electrical cable
variable dimensions
installation view, kunsthalle lissabon, lisbon, 2013
leonor antunes: i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view, new museum, new york, 2015
leonor antunes: i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view, new museum, new york, 2015
leonor antunes: i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view, new museum, new york, 2015
leonor antunes: i stand like a mirror before you, 2015
variable dimensions
installation view, new museum, new york, 2015
a skylight alley running sideways, 2016
powder coated brass plates, micro cable, stainless steel and brass beads
168 x 102 x 6 in.
installation view of a spiral staircase leads down to the garden, san francisco museum of
modern art, 2016
a skylight alley running sideways, 2016
powder coated brass plates, micro cable, stainless steel and brass beads
168 x 102 x 6 in.
installation view of a spiral staircase leads down to the garden, san francisco museum of
modern art, 2016
the sensation of being outdoors, 2008
diamond-shaped mesh, black rope, brass tubes
installation view of casa, modo de usar, serralves museum, porto, portugal, 2011
villa, how to use, 2011
variable dimensions
installation view of casa, modo de usar, serralves museum, porto, portugal, 2011
1969 I, 2008
bamboo, leather
variable dimensions
installation view of casa, modo de usar, serralves museum, porto, portugal, 2011
villa, how to use, 2011
variable dimensions
installation view of casa, modo de usar, serralves museum, porto, portugal, 2011
vila mallet-stevens, 2011
16 nets in nylon string
variable dimensions
installation view of casa, modo de usar, serralves museum, porto, portugal, 2011
Leonor Antunes’s most important solo exhibitions include: the apparent length of a floor area, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh Art Festival, UK (2023); the homemaker and her domain, part iii, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2022); joints, voids, and gaps, Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Mudam), Luxembourg (2020-21); Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo (2019); Leonor Antunes: discrepancies with C. P., Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2019); Discrepancias con C.P., Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2018); Leonor Antunes, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (2018); the frisson of the togetherness, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2017); Discrepancies with G.G., Tensta konsthall, Stockholm (2017); a spiral staircase leads down the garden, SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, United States (2016); the pliable plane, CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux, France (2015); I Stand Like a Mirror Before You, New Museum, New York and KIOSK, Ghent, Belgium (2015); Leonor Antunes, Pérez Art Museum Miami, United States (2014); a linha é tão fina que o olho apesar de armado com uma lupa, imagina-a ao invés de vê-la II, Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon (2013); the last days in chimalistac, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2013); le hasard est l'ennemi de tous les mètres, Maus Hábitos, Porto, Portugal (2012); villa, how to use, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany (2011); casa, modo de usar, Serralves Foundation – Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal (2011); discrepancies with M.G., Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City (2011); walk around there. look through here, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2011).
Recently, her work has been included in group exhibitions such as: COMPORTA 2023, Fortes de Aloia, Portugal; Colección Jumex: Todo se Vuelve más ligero, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2023); Witch Hunt, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Resonating Spaces, Fondation Beyeler, Switzerland (2019); Civilized Caves, Ladera Oeste, Guadalajara, Mexico (2017); Condemned to be Modern, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG) (2017); Potency and Adversity: Art from Latin America in the Portuguese Collections, Galerias Municipais de Lisboa: Pavilhão Branco, Pavilhão Preto, Lisbon (2017); Ficciones y territorios: Arte para pensar la nueva razón del mundo, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2016); Conversas: arte portuguesa recente na coleção de Serralves, Serralves Foundation – Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal (2016); Function Follows Vision, Vision Follow Reality, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (2015); Slip of the Tongue, Punta della Dogana, Venice (2015); Beyond the Supersquare, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, NY (2014); Attention Economy, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (2014); Decorum, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2013); Phoenix vs Babel, Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris (2008); Acquisitions récentes, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2007), among others.
Antunes has also participated in various international biennials, including: Portugal Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2019); Gwangju Biennial 2018 (2018); 57th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennial (2017); Sharjah Biennial 12, United Arab Emirates (2015); 8. Berlin Biennale (2014); 12. Fellbach Triennial of Small Scale Sculpture, Germany (2013); SB2011 Singapore Biennale (2011); 1ª and 3ª Bienal de Arte Contemporânea da Maia, Portugal (1999 and 2003).
Leonor Antunes and Tobias Ostrander will talk about interests in modernist architecture and design.
The artist created a new installation that exploits the physical qualities and proportions of this iconic architectural space designed by Ieoh Ming Pei.
kurimanzutto is delighted to felicitate Leonor Antunes with a seam, a surface, a hinge or a knot representing the Portugal Pavilion at the Fundazione Ugo et Olga Levi Onlus, Palazzo Giustinian Lolin.
The Last Days in Galliate is Leonor Antunes first major exhibition in Italy, conceived as a complex installation that fills the 1,400 square metres on the space known as the shed at Pirelli HangarBicocca: the works, many of which are new productions, converge with the structural elements of context and the natural lightning, thus merging into a single narrative.
The 12th Gwangju Biennale’s Imagined Borders is a guiding concept that responds to the current times of change and uncertainty by recognizing the limits of grand narratives, singular authorship and the necessity to return to the complexities of multiple voices and perspectives. Seven exhibitions, spread across the city at the Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall, the Asia Culture Center, and other historical sites, will present responses to the imagination of borders—as historical and real, experiential and abstract, imaginary and transgressive.
Her sculptures and interventions transform, in a certain way, the places where they are placed, and explore notions that are normally associated with the architectural, the planned and the built-such as measurement, proportion or scale. Paradoxically, Antunes has a systematic work methodology that incorporates randomness and arbitrariness as part of its raw material, which gives autonomy to the subject and gives its forms a specific meaning.
