Liliana Porter

Liliana Porter was born in 1941 in Buenos Aires
She currently lives and works in New York

Liliana Porter’s artistic practice spans over six decades and involves printmaking, photography, painting, drawing, installation, video, theater, and public art projects. Porter studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires (1954–58) and the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City (1958–61). In 1964, she moved to New York, where she cofounded the New York Graphic Workshop with Luis Camnitzer and Jos. Guillermo Castillo, aiming to redefine printmaking practices.

Porter is renowned for her thought-provoking explorations of the boundaries between reality and representation. Her work often features humorous juxtapositions of incongruous objects, utilizing a collection of figurines, toys, and souvenirs amassed over years of global travel. These kitschy items are arranged in unexpected situations, inviting political, philosophical, and existential interpretations. By placing these objects in dialogue within timeless, white spaces, Porter manipulates perceptions of time, history, and reality.

Porter’s work is held in prestigious public and private collections worldwide, including MoMA, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; Pérez Art Museum, Miami; Tate Modern, London, among others.

She has participated in landmark biennials, including the 57th Venice Biennale (2017); and the 9th Sharjah Biennial (2009). Her most recent solo exhibitions include Dia Art Foundation, Bridgehampton (2024); Museo Casa de la Moneda, Madrid (2024); Les Abattoirs, Toulouse (2023); Frist Art Museum, Nashville (2021); Zachęta – National Gallery, Warsaw (2019); Museo del Barrio, New York (2018); PAMM, Miami (2018); Blanton Museum of Art, Austin (2018); ARTIUM Museum, Vitoria, Spain (2017); SCAD, Savannah (2017); MALBA, Buenos Aires (2013); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2009); among many others.

Her work has been the subject of major publications, including Liliana Porter: Other Situations (2018); and Liliana Porter and the Art of Simulation (2008).

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El hombre con el hacha y otras situaciones breves (Man With Axe), 2017 – Detail (Exhibition View, 57th Biennale di Venezia)El hombre con el hacha y otras situaciones breves (Man With Axe), 2017 (Exhibition View, 57th Biennale di Venezia)El hombre con el hacha y otras situaciones breves (Man With Axe), 2017 – Detail (Exhibition View, 57th Biennale di Venezia)To Clean Up, 2012 (Site specific installation – Exhibition View, Galleria Continua, Boissy-le-Châtel, France, 2012)Other Situations, 2017-2018 (Exhibition View, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia)Other Situations, 2018 (Exhibition View, El Museo Del Barrio, New York)Other Situations, 2018 (Exhibition View, El Museo Del Barrio, New York)Other Situations, 2018 (Exhibition View, El Museo Del Barrio, New York)The Riddle and Other Circumstances, 2019 (Exhibition view, Lower Ground)The Painter, 2019 (Painting Installation with figurine – Exhibition View, mor charpentier, Paris)Linea de Tiempo, 2009 (Exhibition View, Museo Tamayo, Mexico, 2009)Liliana Porter & Marcel Broodthaers, Museum as Hub : The incongrus image, 2011 (Exhibition View, New Museum, 2011 © Naho Kubota)Liliana Porter & Marcel Broodthaers, Museum as Hub : The incongrus image, 2011 (Exhibition View, New Museum, 2011 © Naho Kubota)Dialogue [with Penguin], 1999 (Cibachrome)Dialogues and disobediences, 2017 (Exhibition View, ARTIUM, Vitoria, Spain)Dialogues and disobediences, 2017 (Exhibition View, ARTIUM, Vitoria, Spain)Breaking News, 2016 (Digital Video – Exhibition View, El Museo Del Barrio, New York, 2018)Dialogues and disobediences, 2017 (Exhibition View, ARTIUM, Vitoria, Spain)Wrinkle Environment Installation I, 1969-2009 (Exhibition View, Museo Reina Sofia, 2012)