Anne Imhof, the German contemporary artist known for her confrontational and immersive work, has responded to criticism over her Venice Biennale and New York shows. The artist, celebrated for her 2017 Venice installation “Faust,” faced mixed reviews after her 2025 New York show, “Doom: House of Hope,” which some critics dismissed as a “bad Balenciaga ad.” Imhof, 48, told reporters she found some of the critiques frustrating. “Do you want to say I’m dated as an artist?” she asked. The artist has long embraced conflict in her work, often using provocative imagery and performances to explore social and political themes. Her rise began with the Venice Biennale, where she transformed the German pavilion into a dark, S&M-inspired space featuring dobermans, black-clad performers, and a glass floor that unsettled visitors. Imhof said the installation, created on the site of a Nazi-era building, was meant to highlight Germany’s complex history. “I built a fence around the house that the Nazis built, and I let dogs piss on the staircase,” she explained. Faust combined dance, live music, and visual art to reflect modern societal anxieties, including surveillance, digital culture, and economic power structures. Imhof’s Venice work was designed with social media in mind, allowing audiences to reinterpret and share the experience. She noted that the exhibition “turned from something I created into something the audience created.” Her New York show, however, replaced Germanic references with high-school jocks, cheerleaders, and grunge performers under a giant ticking clock, yet retained a sense of existential exhaustion. The performance featured repeated chants like “We’re fucked, we’re doomed, we’re dead,” which critics described as pessimistic and “comically apolitical.” In addition to her gallery work, Imhof’s collaborations with fashion and commercial brands have fueled debate. She has served as a muse for designers at Balenciaga, staged a Burberry show during lockdown, and partnered with Nike for a “battle of the bands” performance. Her public appearances with her partner, US ballet dancer Devon Teuscher, for Valentino campaigns, drew further attention. Some commentators suggested that frequent collaborations with the fashion world could risk diluting her artistic credibility. Despite this, Imhof emphasizes that her work remains autonomous. “I think I have a responsibility towards my work and the people I work with, not to make political statements just to make pieces more desirable,” she said. Her goal is to create spaces that encourage shared experiences, skill, and care without relying on politicization or commercial appeal. Her latest exhibition, Fun ist ein Stahlbad (“Fun is a Steel Bath”), at the Serralves Foundation in Porto, reflects this philosophy. The show includes sculptures that confront viewers with control and power, such as a black-metal swimming pool and crowd-control barriers. A four-channel film overlays footage of her New York show with a passage from Greg Egan’s novel Diaspora, evoking dystopian futures and the ethical implications of technology and identity. Imhof argues that pessimism in art can be political, emphasizing that artistic autonomy does not mean disengagement. She also addresses the intersection of art and fashion, explaining that collaborations are strategic rather than compromises. “Fashion and art are not separate moral systems. For me, the question is about agency: who makes decisions, who is involved, and whether the work can maintain its critical position while moving through these systems,” she said. With her debut album WYWG (“Wish You Were Gay”), Imhof further explores these themes in music, blending influences from Genesis P-Orridge, Black Flag, and the Velvet Underground. She insists that making art accessible does not reduce its critical impact. “I don’t think the future of art lies in making it into some elite bubble,” she said. Through her provocative work and deliberate collaborations, Anne Imhof continues to challenge perceptions of contemporary art, balancing autonomy with popular culture, and confronting audiences with the tension between aesthetics, politics, and societal critique.