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: the homemaker and her domain, Festival d'Automne à Paris (2021), The Box, Plymouth (2020) Mudam, Luxembourg (2020); 58th Venice Biennial (2019); MASP, São Paulo (2019); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2018); Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2018); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2017); SFMOMA, San Francisco (2016); KIOSK, Ghent and New Museum, New York (2015); CAPC Centre d'art Contemporain, Bordeaux (2015); PAMM Pérez Art Museum, Miami (2014); Kunsthale Basel (2013); Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon (2013); Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo (2013).
Recent group shows include: MAAT, Lisbon (2020); Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2019); 57th Venice Biennial (2017); LAMAG Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles (2017); 12nd Sharjah Biennial, UAE (2015); 8 Berlin Biennial (2014); Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2013); 3rd Singapore Biennial (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.