Jac Leirner Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner

Born 1961 in São Paulo, Brazil. Lives and works in São Paulo.
Jl Es 2022 08
2018 Afinidades Eletivas Es 36
Installation3
Jl 39
Jac Leirner 06
Jl Functions Of A Variable Ddh 04
Jl Estac A O Pinacoteca Ddr13
Jl Estac A O Pinacoteca Ddh50
Jl Yale School Of Art Ddh5
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Floor: Jac Leirner, Prisms, 2022. Walls: Jac Leirner, Us Horizon, 1985–2022 (detail). Exhibition view: Jac Leirner, Us Horizon, Esther Schipper, Berlin, 2022. Photo © Andrea Rossetti

Introduction

Jac Leirner is best known for her series of works employing specific everyday materials, such as bank notes, cigarette packaging, airline paraphernalia, business cards, and more recently items purchased in hardware stores.

Full biography

Selected works

example
Jac Leirner
Art Basel 1991/2014, 2023

Aluminum ruler, stickers

300 x 8 x 2,5 cm
example
Jac Leirner
Prisms, 2022

64 pouches (vinyl, magnets, styrofoam), 5 I-beams (IPE 300)
Dimensions variable (10 m long approx.)
Beams: 30 x 15 x 200 cm each (5 parts)
example
Jac Leirner
My Unstable Way, 2022

Stainless steel cord, tensioners, hooks, ballpoint pen parts
ø 1 cm, length variable
example
Jac Leirner
Transformers 4, 2021

Cardboard packaging
53 x 39 cm (unframed)
58,6 x 44,7 x 3,5 cm (framed)
example
Jac Leirner
Superstar Marilyn, 2020

Paper collage
30 x 23 cm (unframed)
37,5 x 30,5 x 3,5 cm (framed)
example
Jac Leirner
Blossom, 2017

22 spirit levels
130 x 67 x 63 cm
example
Jac Leirner
Metal Wood Black, 2017
Set of 66 rulers (wood, metal and plastic)
102 x 347 x 1 cm
example
Jac Leirner
Woman & Man, 2014

118 x 124 x 8 cm (red part)
142 x 30 x 7 cm (blue part)
example
Jac Leirner
Skin (Juicy Jay's Watermelon King Size Slim), 2013

Cigarette rolling papers (680 units)
200 x 200 x 1,5 cm
example
Jac Leirner
Urgh 1, 2, 3, 2008
Plastic bag, polyester foam, Plexiglas
91,4 x 143,2 x 3 cm
example
Jac Leirner
Lady's Shoes, 1989
Plastic bag, polyester foam
43 x 36 cm (unframed)
57 x 51,5 x 3 cm
example
Jac Leirner
People and Animals, 1985-2022

Set of 21 plastic bags
1,10 x 4,25 m (variable)
example
Jac Leirner
Music, Books and Artist Materials, 1985-2022

Set of 14 plastic bags
115 x 300 cm (variable)
example
Jac Leirner
Us Horizon, 1985-2022
220 plastic bags (106 top row, 114 bottom row)
2,10 x 46,5 m
example
Jac Leirner
Us Artists, 1985-2022
Set of 9 plastic bags
182 x 182 cm (variable)

Gallery Exhibitions

Us Horizon Jac Leirner

Us Horizon

Jac Leirner
Esther Schipper is pleased to present Us Horizon, Jac Leirner’s first solo exhibition with the gallery.
March 12—April 14, 2022
Esther Schipper, Berlin
Afinidades Eletivas MARCIUS GALAN, FERNANDA GOMES, PAULO ROBERTO LEAL, JAC LEIRNER, MIRA SCHENDEL

Afinidades Eletivas

MARCIUS GALAN, FERNANDA GOMES, PAULO ROBERTO LEAL, JAC LEIRNER, MIRA SCHENDEL
Esther Schipper is pleased to announce Afinidades Eletivas, an exhibition of contemporary and historical Brazilian art organized with Olivier Renaud-Clement. As the title (Elective Affinities) suggests, the selection of the five artists—Marcius...
February 2—March 3, 2018
Organized with Olivier Renaud-Clement

External Exhibitions

Jac Leirner, Village Inside II, 2023 (detail). Photo © Eduardo Ortega

Jac Leirner

Swiss Institute presents the first major institutional solo exhibition in New York of Jac Leirner. The exhibition encapsulates a wide chronological span of the artist’s experience, with works ranging from the 1980s to today.
May 10—August 27, 2023
Swiss Institute, New York
Add It Up Jac Leirner

Add It Up

Jac Leirner
Brazilian artist Jac Leirner presents her first solo exhibition in Scotland, combining work from major collections with new work made especially for Fruitmarket audiences. Leirner makes her work from a limited range...
July 1—October 22, 2017
The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
Institutional Ghost Jac Leirner

Institutional Ghost

Jac Leirner
Considered one of Brazil’s most important contemporary artists, this solo exhibition from Jac Leirner comprises of exciting recent and new work made in response to the architecture of IMMA. Leirner works across...
February 14—June 5, 2017
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
Jac Leirner: Borders Are Drawn By Hand Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner: Borders Are Drawn By Hand

Jac Leirner
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, is proud to present Jac Leirner: Borders Are Drawn by Hand in the MoCA Pavilion, guest curated by Victor Wang. Jac Leirner: Borders Are Drawn by...
November 11—27, 2016
Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai
Jac Leirner: Funciones de una variable Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner: Funciones de una variable

Jac Leirner
April 30—July 20, 2014
Museo Tamayo, Mexico City
Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner

November 19, 2011—February 26, 2012
Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo
Adhesive 44 Jac Leirner

Adhesive 44

Jac Leirner
São Paulo-based artist Jac Leirner creates sophisticated abstract compositions out of what most of us consider throwaways and trash. She collects cigarette packs, airline tickets, envelopes, brochures, and museum store shopping bags...
July 6—October 10, 2006
Miami Art Museum, Miami
Little Lights Jac Leirner

Little Lights

Jac Leirner
Based in Sao Paulo, artist Jac Leirner is one of the most emblematic figures of the Brazilian art scene in the last fifteen years. Most of the time, she creates sophisticated abstract...
July 2—October 2, 2005
Le Grand Café – Centre d’Art Contemporain, Saint-Nazaire
Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner

December 9, 2003—January 10, 2004
Casa de Cultura Mário Quintana, Porto Alegre
All Together Now Jac Leirner

All Together Now

Jac Leirner
In 1990, Jac Leirner spent three months in Oxford working as an artist-in-residence. During this time, she gathered hundreds of leaflets, which she built up into the spectacular All Together Now. Describing...
July 14—September 29, 1991
Modern Art, Oxford

Featured stories

At Frieze New York 2023, One-Person Shows That Shine The New York Times
News

At Frieze New York 2023, One-Person Shows That Shine

The New York Times
Read article
Last Chance – Jac Leirner, Us Horizon
Esther Schipper

Last Chance – Jac Leirner, Us Horizon

Jac Leirner Us Horizon Through April 14, 2022 www.estherschipper.com Don't miss Jac Leirner’s first solo exhibition with the gallery – Us Horizon. The exhibition includes a new work from Leirner’s acclaimed series...
March 12 – April 14, 2022
Jac Leirner, Us Horizon – Opening Saturday March 12, 2 – 8 pm
Esther Schipper

Jac Leirner, Us Horizon – Opening Saturday March 12, 2 – 8 pm

Jac Leirner Us Horizon March 12 – April 14, 2022 Opening Saturday March 12, 2–8 pm Esther Schipper is pleased to present Us Horizon, Jac Leirner’s first solo exhibition with the gallery....
March 12 – April 14, 2022
Spotlight: Jac Leirner
News

Spotlight: Jac Leirner

For our Spotlight this week we present Jac Leirner's Blossom, 2017. Jac Leirner's Blossom presents at first sight as a bright geometric work, its 22 short levels extending out from the corner, eleven parts on...
Esther Schipper is pleased to announce the representation of Jac Leirner
News

Esther Schipper is pleased to announce the representation of Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner was born in 1961 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she lives and works. The works of Jac Leirner are often created from mundane or formally unremarkable materials such as bank...
February 13, 2020

Films

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Us Horizon Jac Leirner

Us Horizon

Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner discuss the ideas and inspirations behind the works in her first solo exhibition at the gallery.


Publications

Jac Leirner Add It Up

Jac Leirner

Add It Up
This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Jac Leirner: Add It Up which ran from 1 July – 22 October 2017. Winner of the 2018 British Book Design &...
2017
Jac Leirner Jac Leirner in conversation with / en conversación con Adele Nelson

Jac Leirner

Jac Leirner in conversation with / en conversación con Adele Nelson
The third title of the Conversations series records the conversations between the Brazilian conceptual artist, Jac Leirner, and the art historian, Adele Nelson. In this first detailed study of his creative process,...
2011
Jac Leirner Wolfgang-Hahn-Preis 2019

Jac Leirner

Wolfgang-Hahn-Preis 2019
“I never made a decision to become an artist. I wanted to become several things as a young person—an athlete, a conductor, an architect, an oceanographer,” the Wolfgang Hahn Prize winner Jac...
2019