鈥淚 consider the usual aids of self-definition 鈥 sex, age, talent, time and space 鈥 as tyrannical limitations upon my freedom of choice.鈥 These words, written by Eleanor Antin (b. 1935) in 1974, sum up a career dedicated to exploring identity. The performance artist听creates and inhabits alter egos that cross gender, class, geography and historical eras. She refers to these personas as her 鈥渟elves,鈥澨齭taging them through literature, film and sculpture.听These characters frame identity as fluid and performative, rather than adhering to society鈥檚 rigid standards. This approach aligns her with key figures of late 20th-century art, including Cindy Sherman, who constructed identities through self-portraiture, and Marina Abramovi膰, a defining force in performance.听In a time when identity politics and self-presentation are more scrutinised than ever, Antin offers a poignant meditation on the instability of the self.
Now, her work is on display at MUDAM, Luxembourg. The retrospective is the latest in a long line of solo shows dedicated to Antin鈥檚 oeuvre, including at ICA in Boston, Arnolfini in Bristol and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as appearing at the 37th听Venice Biennial.听Her institutional recognition goes back to 1975, when her renowned听100 Boots听series debuted at MoMA in New York.听Eleanor Antin: A Retrospective听marks the first major European survey of her five-decade, multidisciplinary career.听Here, the many facets of her practice are brought together, underlining how, by standing at the intersection of conceptual art, performance and second-wave feminism, Antin profoundly shaped the artistic canon.听
Visitors will encounter several iconic feminist works, in which Antin unflinchingly confronts society鈥檚 inherent misogyny with clarity and force. The exhibition鈥檚 first section, titled听Classification,听dissects female bodies and behaviour through the lens of taxonomy.听Meanwhile, the following group of works, given the name听Admiration,听celebrate the overlooked women in Antin鈥檚 circle, revealing her connections to Carolee Schneeman, Kathy Acker, Martha Rosler and other women artists active in New York during the 1970s. Another of the gallery鈥檚 sections focuses on her archetypal alter ego: The King. The male persona takes centre stage in听Power,听which Antin uses to deconstruct patriarchal structures and social hierarchies. In one image, titled听The King of Solana Beach听(1974 鈥 1975), the artist stands on the edge of a cliff, gazing out to sea. She鈥檚 wearing a thick beard and regal cloak 鈥 this is The King鈥檚 domain and his power feels endless.听
CARVING听is perhaps the most striking and enduring part of MUDAM鈥檚 show, emblematic of her ability to cut across disciplines to create something uniquely powerful.听CARVING: A Traditional Sculpture听was created in 1972 and comprised 148 black-and-white photographs documenting the artist鈥檚 gradual weight loss over 37 days. Antin becomes both sculptor and sculpture, performing the act of self-monitoring, which was a common topic of discussion in the feminist movement at the time.听The mixed-media artwork critiques the pressures placed on women to physically conform to narrow beauty ideals by shrinking their bodies to a certain size. It has echoes of the John Berger quote from the same year: 鈥渕en look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.鈥 Antin returned to the concept in 2017 with听CARVING: 45 Years Later,听where she recreated the seminal piece. The two are almost identical: she stands naked in shots taken from the front, back, left and right, her hair long and dark. The difference, of course, is that she鈥檚 older. In displaying a body with lines, marks and wrinkles, Antin enacts radical acceptance in a society that often shuns ageing women. In an interview with听Frieze,听the artist said: 鈥淭he idea of growing old doesn鈥檛 have to be some horror. I鈥檝e always found older faces with life on them really interesting. There鈥檚 experience on the body, which I realised as I was working on my own body.鈥澨
Antin鈥檚 oeuvre played a crucial role in shaping the conceptual art movement, which emerged, in part, as a critique of an art market dominated by large-scale paintings and sculptures 鈥 often confined to crates, galleries and elite circulation. In contrast, conceptual art embraced immateriality, reproducibility and ephemerality, challenging traditional notions of ownership, value and artistic production. One prime example is听Road Movie, which is currently on view in MUDAM鈥檚 Grand Hall. It showcases Antin鈥檚 iconic听100 Boots: a series of 51 black-and-white postcards sent through the U.S. Postal Service to friends, artists, critics and institutions.听In doing this, she transforms the post into both medium and exhibition space, rendering her series of ironic installations widely accessible.听
Eleanor Antin: A Retrospective听is an impressive tribute to an artist who used her platform to challenge the status quo. The show is rooted in second-wave feminism and the 1970s art scene, where Antin was a dominant voice in conversations about women鈥檚 place in a changing world.听听Yet, her considerations of the female body, representation and the accessibility of the arts feel just as home in conversations had in 2025 as they did more than half a century earlier.听
Eleanor Antin: A Retrospective is at MUDAM, Luxembourg until 8 February:
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. Eleanor Antin, The Two Eleanors, (1973).
2. Eleanor Antin, Eleanore, (1954).
3. Eleanor Antin, The King Of Solana Beach, (1974-75). Courtesy the Artist and Richard Saltoun.
4. Eleanor Antin, Portrait Of A King.
5. Eleanor Antin, Nurse Eleanor RN, (1976).
