PRESENTATION: Eleanor Antin-A Retrospective, Part II

Eleanor Antin, 100 boots, 1971-73, Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York

Since the late 1960s, performance artist Eleanor Antin has challenged conventional ideas of artistic identity by inventing and embodying a range of alter egos that spanned genders, social roles, geographies and historical periods. She refers to these personas as her ‘selves’, presenting them across diverse media, including literature, film, sculpture and more. Through these transformations, Antin explores identity as inherently fluid and performative while exposing the instability of the social structures built upon it. This perspective was instrumental in shaping the politically engaged art of the 1980s and 1990s and continues to resonate in contemporary practices (Part I).

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Mudam Luxembourg Archive

“Eleanor Antin A Retrospective” is the first large-scale European survey of over fifty years of Eleanor Antin’s work, offering an immersive journey marked by her multidisciplinary approach is on view at Mudam Luxembourg. Born in New York in 1935, Antin perceived herself as an actor at an early age – a stance that would come to define her practice through invented personas and narratives. Her multidimensional projects enable profound explorations of herself and the world, in direct dialogue with her Eastern European Jewish heritage. Standing at the intersection of conceptual art, performance and second-wave feminism, Antin’s position has profoundly impacted the artistic canon of the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition explores the many facets of Antin’s practice in thematic sections. “Road Movie “showcases her iconic project “100 Boots”, in which fifty-one black-and-white postcards were mailed to friends, artists, critics and institutions, turning the U.S. Postal Service into both medium and exhibition space. This performative piece interrogates distribution processes within the art market by rendering her series of ironic installations – starred by 100 black boots – widely accessible. In “Classification” we encounter a group of early works which examine the female body and behaviour through systems of taxonomy. The second, Admiration, celebrates the overlooked women in Antin’s circle, revealing her connections to Kathy Acker, Carolee Schneemann, Martha Rosler and other feminist creatives active in New York during the 1970s. The next two sections focus on her archetypal alter egos: in Power Antin adopts a male persona to deconstruct patriarchal structures and social hierarchies; in Pose she examines the discriminatory elitism inherent in conservative art forms, through her ‘ultrafeminine’ persona Eleonora Antonova. Finally, “Melodrama” immerses visitors in the artist’s autobiography through characters and narratives that draw on her ancestors and the structural violence faced by minorities. Through these diverse manifestations, Antin’s œuvre played a crucial role in shaping the conceptual art movement of the time, which in many ways reflected and critiqued market rules dominated by large-scale paintings or sculptures stored and transported in massive crates. Conceptual art’s immaterial, reproducible and ephemeral approach – more accessible, in sum – radically shifted these rules as well as traditional ideas of ownership, value and artistic production. As a whole “Eleanor Antin: A Retrospective” traces the artist’s visionary journey, connecting the art scenes of New York and California and foregrounding her influence on contemporary artistic practices.

Photo: Eleanor Antin, 100 boots, 1971-73, Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York

Info: Curators: Bettina Steinbrügge, Assistant Curator: Julie Kohn, Mudam Luxembourg-Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, 3 Park Drai Eechelen, 1499 Clausen Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Duration: 26/9/2025-8/2/2026, Days & Hours: Tue & Thu-Sun 10:00-18:00, Wed 10:00-32:00, www.mudam.com/

Eleanor Antin, 100 boots, 1971-73, Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York
Eleanor Antin, 100 boots, 1971-73, Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York

 

 

Left: Eleanor Antin, Portrait of a King, 1972, Courtesy of the artistRight: Eleanor Antin, The King of Solana Beach, 1974-75, Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York
Left: Eleanor Antin, Portrait of a King, 1972, Courtesy of the artist
Right: Eleanor Antin, The King of Solana Beach, 1974-75, Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York

 

 

Eleanor Antin, Nurse Eleanor, R.N., 1976/2007 (detail), Courtesy of the artist
Eleanor Antin, Nurse Eleanor, R.N., 1976/2007 (detail), Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Eleanor Antin, Eleanore, 1954, Courtesy of the artist
Eleanor Antin, Eleanore, 1954, Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Eleanor Antin, Carving: 45 Years Later, 2017, Courtesy of the artist, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York
Eleanor Antin, Carving: 45 Years Later, 2017, Courtesy of the artist, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York

 

 

Eleanor Antin, The Man Without a World, 1991, Courtesy of the artist
Eleanor Antin, The Man Without a World, 1991, Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Eleanor Antin, The Two Eleanors (from the series The Ballerina), 1973, Courtesy of the artist
Eleanor Antin, The Two Eleanors (from the series The Ballerina), 1973, Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Eleanor Antin, Representational Painting (Short version), 1971 Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York
Eleanor Antin, Representational Painting (Short version), 1971 Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York

 

 

Eleanor Antin, Carving: A Traditional Sculpture, 1972, Courtesy of the artist, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York
Eleanor Antin, Carving: A Traditional Sculpture, 1972, Courtesy of the artist, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, Rome and New York