Defined by the artist herself as “sculptures created in space,” the works by Leonor Antunes establish relationships between sculpture, architecture, design, light and the body. Antunes gives special attention to the materials she uses, which are often natural or organic, and to the effects left on them by time and their use, highlighting lines and weaves, techniques and textures. One of the most striking features of her practice is the interest she takes in the productions of a number 20th-century artists, architects and designers, whom she investigates and is inspired by. In this sense, she constructs a true archive of references, composed above all by pioneering women modernists who have often been left outside the grand narratives of art history.
Recent solo exhibitions include Sogetsu Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan / MOCA Los Angeles, USA (2026); on the persistent inequality of leonor’s days, CRAC, Sète; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; CAAC, Seville, Spain (2025); Luisa Strina, São Paulo, Brazil (2025); Foundation VDL, Richard Neutra Residence, Los Angeles; Marian Goodman Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2025); on the persistent inequality of leonor’s days, Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal (2024); the apparent length of a floor area, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (2023); discrepancies, La Loge, Brussels, Belgium (2022); the homemaker and her domain, part III, kurimanzutto, Mexico City, Mexico; Tokyo, Japan (2022); medir, cuidar, enlaçar, Serralves Collection, Forum Arte Braga, Braga, Portugal (2022); the homemaker and her domain, Festival d'Automne à Paris (2021), The Box, Plymouth (2020), Mudam, Luxembourg (2020); 58th Venice Biennale (2019); MASP, São Paulo (2019); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2018); Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2018); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2017); SFMOMA, San Francisco (2016); KIOSK, Ghent & New Museum, New York (2015); CAPC Centre d'Art Contemporain, Bordeaux (2015); PAMM Pérez Art Museum, Miami (2014); Kunsthalle Basel (2013); Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon (2013); Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo (2013).
In 2024, the artist participated in the following group exhibitions: Your Patience Is Appreciated, Marian Goodman Gallery New York, USA; Guo Pei: Fashioning Imagination, M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Check Mate(s) - Oscar Murillo in conversation with Leonor Antunes, Geraldo de Barros, Alighiero Boetti, Lygia Clark, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Sonia Gomes, Cildo Meireles, Rebecca Myles Jones, Hélio Oiticica, Damián Ortega, Lygia Pape, Elisa Sighicelli, Antonio Tarsis, Casa SP-Arte, São Paulo, Brazil; Collection 1: Portrait of Her, National Museum of Art Osaka, Japan; Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale, Finland; Stories Written, Zurich Art Prize Winners 2007-2023, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland; Rendez-vous No 1, Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris, France; A Moeda Viva, Galerias Municipais, Lisbon, Portugal; HONEY, I REARRANGED THE COLLECTION, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland; Soft Power, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus, Potsdam, Germany; Each Now Is the Time, the Space: Leonor Antunes, Alexandre da Cunha, Rhea Dillon, Veronica Ryan, Lismore Castle, Lismore, Ireland; Laura Grisi: Cosmogonie – With works by Leonor Antunes, Nancy Holt, and Liliane Lijn, MACRO, Rome, Italy. Other group exhibitions include MAAT, Lisbon (2020); Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2019); 57th Venice Biennale (2017); LAMAG Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles (2017); 12th Sharjah Biennial, UAE (2015); 8th Berlin Biennale (2014); Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2013); and 3rd Singapore Biennale (2011).
Her work is part of collections such as: CAM, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; CAPC, Musée d’Art Contemporain Bordeaux; Coppel Collection, Mexico City; Culturgest, Lisbon; Fondation Beyeler, Basel; Guggenheim New York; Jumex Collection, Mexico City; M+Museum, Hong Kong; MACBA Barcelona; MAK Vienna, Austria; MASP, São Paulo; MUDAM, Luxembourg; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid; Perez Art Museum Miami, USA; Serralves Museum, Oporto; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Tate Modern, London; The Box, Plymouth.