Liliana Porter Argentinian , b. 1941

With enchanting incongruity, Liliana Porter’s work playfully subverts convention, disrupts time, and messes with reality. Using a wide range of media, Porter mixes the absurd with the philosophical, creating extraordinary situations that lure us unwittingly into the realm of her idiosyncratic cast of characters.

Drawing from an eclectic collection of figurines, knickknacks, toys, and souvenirs, Porter features these characters in unexpected combinations and circumstances. The peculiar situations she invents, where disparate events occur simultaneously, or dissimilar characters interact, wittily invite political, philosophical and existential interpretation.

Some of the characters are brought out of their two-dimensional representations to interact with the real world. Tiny figures on shelves perform colossal tasks, at once pathetic and hilarious. Photographs paired with the actual object depicted, though in different form, bend reality and reverse time. With masterful simplicity and humor, Porter blends the real with the representational in hypothetical yet convincing mini-dramas starring mass-produced, kitsch objects that inadvertently elicit compassion and laughter.