Portrait of Liora Epstein, 2024
Photo by Felix Adam
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
biography
Liora Epstein (b. 1991, Vilnius) lives and works in Cologne. Her family, of Jewish-Tatar descent, came to Germany as quota refugees (German: Kontingentflüchtlinge). She studied Fashion and Communication at Design Department Düsseldorf, then at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf — first with Prof. Tomma Abts, from 2021 with Prof. Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, who named her Meisterschülerin in 2022. She graduated in 2023.
At the center of her practice is logging bad deeds (German: Tagebuch der bösen Taten), an ongoing self-archiving project begun in 2018. It runs across hand-bound books and video performances, in which a custom-made Prayer Mitten (German: Bet-Handschuh) turns private transgression into a public, almost sculptural gesture. Epstein works with gaps instead of reconstruction: omission, displacement and contradiction are left standing, not assembled into a complete history. Her work returns to cultural transmission and loss, to identity as a claim and not a given, and to diaspora’s restricted access to its own sources.
In 2024 the Kunstmuseen Krefeld presented her first institutional solo exhibition, Collection Satellite #9. The Bar, in dialogue with Jürgen Drescher and Reinhard Mucha, curated by Dr. Magdalena Holzhey and Dr. Sylvia Martin. In 2025 the solo exhibition FORTUNA (gut verteilen) (English: to distribute well) followed at the Pax Christi church in Krefeld — a site-specific, processual installation that reshaped the church interior over three months. Her work is held in the collection of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld, and in 2026 she received the AUFTAKT research scholarship from the Kunststiftung NRW.
With AUFTAKT, her current project why does white paper yellow (German: warum vergilbt das weiße papier) moves from research into production in autumn 2026, translating fragments of her Tatar family history into a speculative counter-archive that is increasingly taking form in glass, porcelain and textile.
studies
2014–2023 Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Fine Arts (Akademiebrief / academy diploma)
with Prof. Tomma Abts (until 2021) and Prof. Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (2021–2023)
Meisterschülerin (2022)
2010–2014 Design Department Düsseldorf, Fashion and Communication (BA)
awards and nominations
2026 AUFTAKT, research scholarship, Kunststiftung NRW
2024 Promotional Prize for Fine Arts, NRW (Short List)
2024 Provinzial Art Scholarship
2023 Promotional Prize for Fine Arts, NRW (Short List)
2022 Friedrich Schneider Foundation Scholarship, Germany
2022 Travel grant, Düsseldorf Cultural Office, to Ein Hod, Israel
2022 Travel grant, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen
(Art Association for the Rhineland and Westphalia)
2022 Artist Scholarship NRW “Auf Geht’s” (Let’s Go)
2022 76th International Bergisches Art Prize, Solingen (Short List)
2021 NEUSTART KULTUR (Restart Culture), scholarship from the MKW
(Ministry for Culture and Science, NRW)
2020 NEUSTART KULTUR (Restart Culture), scholarship from the MKW
2019 Dr. H.-W. Dildei Foundation, Oberursel (short list)
collection
Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Die sozialistische Ecke (The socialist corner), acquired 2024
shows, selected
2026
Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Kunstmuseen Krefeld: Collection in Motion (Sammlung in Bewegung), Collection Presentation
2025
Malkasten Düsseldorf: …ALLES GEHT…, Group Exhibition
Storage Museum Düsseldorf: I cannot put my finger on it,
Group Exhibition
Pax Christi Krefeld: FORTUNA (gut verteilen) (English: to distribute well), Solo Exhibition
2024
Kunstmuseum Krefeld: Collection Satellite #9 The Bar. Liora Epstein in Dialogue with Jürgen Drescher and Reinhard Mucha, Solo Exhibition
Malkasten Düsseldorf: COUNTDOWN, Group Exhibition
Kunstverein Nürnberg (Nuremberg Art Association): Asking for a Friend, Group Exhibition
2023
MG16 Cologne: On Music, Group Exhibition
Malkasten Düsseldorf: ARTIST BOOKS LIVE!, Book Presentation
NKR Düsseldorf: OPENING HAPPENING, Group Exhibition
Galerie SITTart Düsseldorf: DRAWN, Group Exhibition
Contemporary Art Ruhr C.A.R. Essen: the hall of collaborations,
Group Exhibition and Reading
2022
NRW-Forum Düsseldorf: Subversive Design, Group Exhibition
BLOOM Düsseldorf: BONDED, Group Exhibition
Kunstmuseum Solingen: 76th International Bergische Art Exhibition,
Group Exhibition
2021
Goethe-Institut Germany and Milan: Art – Expanding the Concept!, Online Publication
Kunstverein für die Rheinlande u. Westfalen: half body half human @lavalounge, Group Exhibition
Teatro Out Off / Goethe-Institut Milan, Italy: Maestri. Incontriamoli! Joseph Beuys, Performance (livestreamed five-evening program marking the 100th anniversary of Joseph Beuys’ birth)
BLOOM Düsseldorf: Distant Call, Two-Person Exhibition
Spoerl Fabric Düsseldorf: Showcase Presentation in the Courtyard, Group Exhibition
Asta Exhibition Space Kunstakademie Düsseldorf: Pandemic-compliant Exhibition Series, Group Exhibition
2020
Volksbühne Berlin: Mourning becomes Electra, action performed in the Crawling Suit
Weltkunstzimmer Düsseldorf: Anatol Actionist, action performed in the Crawling Suit
Experimental Video Art Exhibition Thailand: EVA 17, Group Exhibition
2019
McKinsey Sky Office Düsseldorf: Kunstakademie Düsseldorf @ McKinsey & Company #7, Group Exhibition
Kreishaus Gummersbach: Art Exchange (Kunstbörse), Group Exhibition
2018
Experimental Video Art Exhibition Thailand: EVA 16, Group Exhibition
Gold und Beton Köln: Stille Post (Pass it on), Group Exhibition
2017
Museum KIT Düsseldorf: Trust (Vertrauen), Group Exhibition
projects
Sensitization Workshop on Antisemitism in cooperation with Leon Kahane and Fabian Bechtle, Art Collection NRW (2025)
Draping and Cutting Development Workshop as part of the project Working Textiles, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (2023)
Lecture Series About Places as part of the Space for Solidarity project, Art Collection NRW (2022)
Costume Design for the show Runners by the Hippana/Maleta Company, Shows internationally (2021)
Performance Workshop Deciphering and Decontextualization of Gestures, Justus Liebig University Giessen (2019)
Residency with the performance group UNANIM, Quartier am Hafen Cologne (2018)
Interdisciplinary Costume and Performance Project Lophophie, Thomas School Düsseldorf, OGS Vennhauser-Allee Düsseldorf, GGS Deutzer Straße Düsseldorf (2018)
Costume Design for the dance performance She wanted to know which Maid of Marie Antoinette’s she was, Kunstraum Düsseldorf (2014)
press, selected
2025
RP Online, [03.05.2025]: Liora Epstein will das Glück gleichmäßig verteilen — report and audio →
RP Online, [21.05.25]: Risse im Raum des Schutzes — report →
2024
Die Leichtigkeit der Kunst: Die Bar in den Kunstmuseen Krefeld , podcast episode →
Kunstmuseen Krefeld: Collection Satellite #9, publication →
presseportal.de, 10 April 2024: Provinzial vergibt sechstes Kunst-Stipendium — press release →
2022
Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen: Reise-Stipendium 2022 — report →
2019
McKinsey & Company: #7 — Kunstakademie Düsseldorf @ McKinsey & Company, publication →