Skip to content

Biography

LILIANA PORTER
[1941, Argentina]

Liliana Porter first studied art at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Manuel Belgrano in Buenos Aires, where she enrolled at the age of twelve. Five years later, she moved to Mexico City, where she entered the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) and studied printmaking with Guillermo Silva Santamaría and Mathias Goeritz. She subsequently studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. In 1964, on her way to Paris, Porter visited New York. Drawn to the opportunities and museums in the city, she postponed her trip to Europe and moved permanently to New York. In 1965, she co-founded The New York Graphic Workshop (NYGW) with artists Luis Camnitzer and José Guillermo Castillo, producing prints while redefining conventional models for making and distributing art.

Porter’s work often places carefully chosen small figurines and other objects in monochromatic empty backgrounds, addressing larger philosophical questions and emotional states. Alongside printmaking, she has also worked extensively in the media of photography and video and has created works on canvas, drawings, collages, and installations. She writes, “Many of these pieces depict a cast of characters that are inanimate objects, toys and figurines that I find in flea markets, antique stores, and other odd places. The objects have a double existence. On the one hand they are mere appearance, insubstantial ornaments, but, at the same time, have a gaze that can be animated by the viewer, who, through it, can project the inclination to endow things with an interiority and identity. These ‘theatrical vignettes’ are constructed as visual comments that speak of the human condition. I am interested in the simultaneity of humor and distress, banality and the possibility of meaning.”

In 1973, Porter had a solo show in the Projects Room at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. The Bronx Museum of the Arts held a retrospective exhibition of her work in 1991, and she has had solo exhibitions at Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, the Phoenix Art Museum, Museo de

Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), and many other institutions throughout Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Porter was a professor at Queens College, City University of New York from 1991 to 2007.

Porter has been shown in numerous selected exhibitions, including Fragments of the Journey 1968-1991, Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA and Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, USA (1992); Liliana Porter: Drum Solo, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA (2019); Liliana Porter: Fotografia y Ficción,Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2003); Fictions and Other Realities, Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design Gallery, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (two-person collaboration between Liliana Porter and Ana Tiscornia) (2005); El hombre con el hacha y otras situaciones breves, Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Guadalajara, Mexico and Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Argentina (2013); Liliana Porter: Other Situations, El Museo del Barrio, New York City, New York, USA (2019); Selection of Works: 1968-1990, Museo Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Montevideo, Uruguay (1990);Liliana Porter – Selección de obra temprana y una reflexión desde el presente, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (MNAV), Montevideo, Uruguay (2015); Untitled (shadows) 1969-2014, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), Massachusetts, USA (2014); and Liliana Porter: Man with The Axe (Reconstruction of the original installation at the 57th Biennale di Venezia), Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Florida, USA (2018).

Porter’s work is included in many major collections including the Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, USA; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Texas, USA; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, New York, USA; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, USA; Tate Modern, London, England, UK; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York, USA.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024
Liliana Porter: The Question of Scale, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, USA
Liliana Porter, Dia Art Foundation, Bridgehampton, NY, USA
Liliana Porter: The Gardener and Other Situations, Hessel Museum of Art Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA
Liliana Porter: Retrospective Exhibition, Museo Casa de la Moneda, Madrid, Spain
Liliana Porter, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Bueno Aires, Argentina

2023
Liliana Porter: Unfinished Tales, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Liliana Porter, le jeu de la réalité, Les Abattoirs, Musée - Frac Occitanie Toulouse, France
Liliana Porter, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Liliana Porter, Ruth Benzacar Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2022
Liliana Porter: One Wall, One Work, Krakow Witkin Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
Liliana Porter: Two Realities, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, MA, USA
Liliana Porter: Fox in the Mirror, Saint Louis Art Museum, MO, USA
Liliana Porter, Mor Charpentier Gallery, Paris, France

2021
Conjeturas, Galería del Paseo, Manantiales, Uruguay
The Light, Galería Espacio Mínimo, Madrid, Spain
Diálogo con eso, La Caja Negra, Madrid, Spain
Liliana Porter: The Riddle/ Charada, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Man with the Axe and Other Stories, Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery, Frist Art Museum Nashville, TN, USA

2020
Red Brush and Other Situations, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, USA
Lado a Lado, Galería del Paseo, Manantiales, Uruguay

2019
Liliana Porter: Blue and Black, Krakow Witkin Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
The Riddle and Other Circumstances, Mor Charpentier Gallery, Paris, France
Liliana Porter: Situations, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland

2018
Liliana Porter: Memorabilia, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Liliana Porter: Man with The Axe (Reconstruction of the original installation at the 57th Biennale of Venice), Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), FL, USA
Liliana Porter: Drum Solo, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX, USA
Liliana Porter: Other Situations, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, USA
Linha Do Tempo: Liliana Porter, Galería Luciana Brito, São Paulo, Brazil
Liliana Porter, ART OMI, Ghent, NY, USA

2017
Liliana Porter, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London, UK
Liliana Porter, ART OMI, Ghent, NY, USA
Linha Do Tempo, Liliana Porter, Galería Luciana Brito, São Paulo, Brazil
Liliana Porter: Other Situations, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, GA, USA
Liliana Porter, Diálogos y desobediencias, Artium /Basque Museum Center of Contemporary Art, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Relatos Complices II: Works in Collaboration by Liliana Porter/Ana Tiscornia, Galería del Paseo, Manantiales, Montevideo, Uruguay
Liliana Porter: One Wall, One Work, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
Liliana Porter: The Order of Things and Other Works, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Accomplices: Liliana Porter and Ana Tiscornia, Johannes Vogt Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Relatos Cómplices II: Works in Collaboration by Liliana Porter / Ana Tiscornia, Galería del Paseo, Manantiales, Uruguay

2016
Liliana Porter: Actualidades / Breaking News, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Liliana Porter: Actualidades/ Breaking News, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Liliana Porter, Actualidades / Breaking News, Espacio Minimo, Madrid, Spain
Liliana Porter, Museo Caraffa, Cordoba, Argentina
Relatos Cómplices: Liliana Porter/Ana Tiscornia, Beatriz Gil Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela

2015
Liliana Porter, Museo de Bellas Artes de Neuquén (MNBA), Argentina
Liliana Porter: To See Gold and other prints, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Liliana Porter, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Franklin Rawson, San Juan, Argentina
Liliana Porter, Dialogue with Blue Mug, pick nick Works, Dandilands, Artemis Trail, Troodos, Cyprus
Liliana Porter, Selección de obra temprana y una reflexión desde el presente, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo, Uruguay
Liliana Porter: Reparar el piano y otros compromisos, Galería Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2014
Entreactos: Situaciones Breves, Teatro Sarmiento, Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Liliana Porter, El Hombre con el hacha y otras situciones breves, Museo de Arte de Zapopan (MAZ), Guadalajara, Mexico
Untitled (shadows) 1969-2014, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

2013
The Square and other early works, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
El hombre con el hacha y otras situaciones breves, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Fundación Costantini, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Guadalajara, Mexico
Liliana Porter, Museo Rayo, Roldanillo, Colombia
Liliana Porter, 1973, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA, USA

2012
Fragment of the Cast, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Liliana Porter, Galerie Mor-Charpentier, Paris, France
Disguise, Caja Negra, Madrid, Spain
Conejo que levita y otras obras recientes, Centro Cultura de España, Santiago, Chile
Recent Work, Baginski Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal
The Task, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Liliana Porter, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA, USA

2011
Liliana Porter, New Work, Hosfelt Gallery, New York, NY, USA
The Enemy e Outros Olhares Obliquos (The Enemy & Other Oblique Gazes), Galería Luciana Brito, São Paulo, Brazil; Galería Lucia de la Puente, Lima, Peru
Situations with Levitating Rabbit, Galería Espacio Minimo, Madrid, Spain; Galería del Paseo, Manantiales, Montevideo, Uruguay

2010
New Works, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, USA

2009
Matiné, Galería Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
To Sweep, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Trabajo forzado, Toll Gallery, Montevideo, Uruguay
Línea de Tiempo / Time Line, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City. Mexico
Liliana Porter, Simmons Visual Art Center, Brenau University, Gainesville, GA, USA

2008
Liliana Porter, Fox in the Mirror, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Liliana Porter, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
To See Blue, Galería Brito Cimino, São Paulo, Brazil
Levitating Rabbit, Leo Fortuna Gallery, Hudson, NY, USA
Liliana Porter, Hosfelt Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2007
From a Drawing Standpoint, Leo Fortuna Gallery, Hudson, NY, USA
Liliana Porter, Hosfelt Gallery, New York, NY, USA
For Instance, Galleria Valentina Bonomo, Rome, Italy
To See Red, Galería Espacio Minimo, Madrid, Spain

2006
Red with Eagle, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Recent Works, Goya-Girl Contemporary, Baltimore, MD, USA
For Instance, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

2005
Girl with Rubber Dog and other Situations, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Eventos Breves, Sala de Verónicas, Murcia, Spain
Deer/Dear y otros raros encuentros, Galería Petrus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Palacio Véronicas, Murcia, Spain
Ellos y algunos otros, Galería Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fictions and Other Realities, Georgia State University Ernst G Welch School of Art and Design Gallery, Atlanta, GA, USA (Two-person collaboration between Liliana Porter and Ana Tiscornia)
Diálogo con tetera y otros raros encuentros, Casas Reigner Gallery, Bogotá, Colombia

2004
For You, Print Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Eventos Breves, Palacio Aguirre, Cartagena, Spain.
Inter-missions, Annina Nosei Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Liliana Porter: Brief Events, Eli Marsh Gallery, Amherst College, MA, USA

2003
Eventos breves, Palacio Aguirre, Cartagena, Spain; Galería Espacio Mínimo, Madrid, Spain
To Blink, Casas Riegner Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
Liliana Porter: Una puesta en Imagines, Teorética, San José, Costa Rica
Dot and Others, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Liliana Porter: Fotografia y Ficción, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo Castagnino, Rosario, Argentina

2002
Please, Don’t Move! Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
To Go Back, Annina Nosei Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2001
For You / Para Usted, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
To Say Something, Galería Brito Cimino, São Paulo, Brazil

2000
Liliana Porter, Sicardi-Sanders Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Liliana Porter, Espacio Mínimo, Murcia, Spain
Liliana Porter, Galería Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Liliana Porter: Recent Works, Annina Nosei Gallery, New York, NY, USA
The Space Inside the Mirror, Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY, USA
Liliana Porter, Emiso Art Center Gallery, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, USA
The Secret Lives of Toys: Liliana Porter Photographs, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ, USA
Drum Solo/ Solo de Tambor, Galería Espacio Mínimo, Madrid, Spain

1999
For You / Para Usted, Projects, ARCO, Madrid, Spain; Annina Nosei Gallery, New York, NY; Blue Star Artspace, San Antonio, TX, USA
Liliana Porter, Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Canada

1998
Ellos y algunos otros, Espacio Mínimo, Murcia, Spain
Arte Poética, University Art Gallery, Staller Center for the Arts, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, NY, USA

1997
Fotografías Galería Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Diálogos, Museo de Bellas Artes Juan Manuel Blanes, Montevideo, Uruguay

Selected Public Collections

Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, OH, USA

Amelita Fortabat, Buenos Aires, Argentina

American Express, Miami, FL, USA

A.T. & T. Corporation, New York, NY, USA

La Biblioteque Nationale, Paris, France

Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX, USA

Booz, Allen & Company, New York, NY, USA

Boras Konstmuseum, Sweden

British Museum, London, UK        

Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Bronx Museum for the Arts, Bronx, NY, USA

Brown, Wood, Ivy, Petty & Mitchell, New York, NY, USA

Casa de las Américas, Habana, Cuba

Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY, USA

Chase Manhattan Bank, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Chase Manhattan Bank, Hong Kong

Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY, USA

Clouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal

Daros Latinamerica Collection, Zürich, Switzerland

Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley, MA, USA

DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, USA

Estee Lauder Collection, New York, NY, USA

FEMSA Collection, Monterrey, Mexico

Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA, USA

Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

Foote, Cone & Belding, New York, NY, USA

Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN, USA

I.B.M. Corporation, Endicott, NY, USA

Instituto de Cultura, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Instituto Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba

International Graphic Art Society, New York, NY, USA

Kelly, Drye & Warren, New York, NY, USA

LeBouef, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae, New York, NY, USA

Marion and Jorge Helft Collection, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA

Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA

Microsoft Art Collection, Redmond, WA, USA

Ministry of Culture Francaise, Belgium

Munson Williams Proctor Fine Arts Institute, Museum of Art, Utica, NY, USA

Musee D'Art Contemporaine, Montreal, Canada

Musee D'Art, Lodz, Poland

Museo Castagnino-Marco, Rosario, Argentina

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, A.C. Mexico

Museo de Arte Contemporâneo, Murcia, Spain

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Panama City, Panama

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Fundación Costantini, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Colombia

Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Museo de Arte Moderno, Cali, Colombia

Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Bellas Artes, Santander, Spain

Museo de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile, Chile

Museo de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico   

Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, USA

Museo del Grabado, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo (MEIAC), Badajoz, Spain

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico

Museo Universitario, Mexico City, Mexico

Museu da Gravura, Curitiba, Brazil

Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, USA

Museum of Contemporary Graphic Art, Fredrikstad, Norway

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Houston, TX, USA

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY, USA

Needham Harper Worldwide, New York, NY, USA

News Corporation United, New York, NY, USA

The New York Public Library, New York, NY, USA

Pepper, Hamilton & Scheets, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, PA, USA

Phillip Morris Collection, New York, NY, USA

Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ, USA

RCA Corporation

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., USA

St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, USA

Southeast Banking Corporation

Tate Modern, London, UK

Walt Disney Productions, Burbank, CA, USA

Weatherspoon Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, USA

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA