The artist’s first Portugal presentation turns architecture and landscape into active participants in her latest body of work.
A Site Specific Debut in Portugal
Anne Imhof has opened her first solo exhibition in Portugal at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, unveiling a major new presentation titled Fun ist ein Stahlbad. Opening December 12, 2025 and running through April 19, 2026, the exhibition spans both the Álvaro Siza designed museum and its surrounding 45 acre park, bringing together newly produced works across sculpture, painting, film and installation. Curated by Inês Grosso, the show is conceived entirely in dialogue with its setting, treating the architecture and landscape as integral components rather than neutral backdrops.
Architecture as Control and Constraint
The exhibition title references ideas from The Dialectic of Enlightenment by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, where fun is framed as a subtle form of control rather than liberation. This concept anchors the exhibition, reflecting Imhof’s continued exploration of power, restraint and contemporary anxiety. At its physical core is a newly commissioned 60 foot long steel swimming pool embedded in the Pátio do Ulmeiro, extending from the outdoor courtyard into the interior galleries and blurring the boundary between inside and outside. Surrounding works address themes of fragility, abandonment and the emotional void left by conflict and failed systems.
Film, Performance and an Unstable Future
The exhibition also debuts Citizen from 2025, a four channel film featuring performers, musicians, actors and dancers. Set on the stage of DOOM, Imhof’s earlier New York project, the film reappears at Serralves as an ambiguous house of hope where architecture feels temporary and unsettled. Developed over two years in close collaboration with architect Andrea Faraguna and supported by Sprüth Magers, the exhibition marks a significant and immersive chapter in Imhof’s evolving practice.
