Eleanor Antin

For more than fifty years, Eleanor Antin (b. 1935 in New York, USA) has been one of the groundbreaking voices of her generation.

A pioneer of artistic self-promotion, she creates and embodies fictitious characters to raise key questions of identity, history and representation. Her work unites profound humour with subtle storytelling. Antin's cross-media practice – which includes photography, film, text, performance, sculpture and installation – invites us to take a fresh look at familiar narratives and discover surprising perspectives on how we see ourselves and society as a whole.

Antin has been probing the fluid existence of the self since the late 1960s, adopting various personae – king, ballerina or nurse – that embody different identities, historical references and inner contradictions.

This retrospective – the first ever in Europe – examines the complexity of Antin’s oeuvre, demonstrating how timely and powerful her work remains today. The show covers the period from Antin’s early performances from the 1960s to recent works.

Curated for Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein by Christiane Meyer-Stoll with Henrik Utermöhle. The exhibition was initiated and organised by Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean. After Vaduz, the exhibition travels to MOCAK – Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków.

The exhibition is accompanied by the publication Eleanor Antin. Works 1965–2017 and Manfred Naescher's edition 2 Boots (after Eleanor Antin) (2026), created especially for Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein.

Saâdane Afif will be staging a new performance at the closing event on 27 September 2026.