Eva & Adele

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Eva & Adele photographed by Oliver Mark, Berlin 2002 Oliver Mark - Eva & Adele, Berlin 2002.jpg
Eva & Adele photographed by Oliver Mark, Berlin 2002

Eva & Adele were an artistic couple who claim to have "landed their time machines" in Berlin after the Wall fell in 1989, claiming to be "hermaphrodite twins from the future". [1] Both refused to reveal their real name or age. They were famous for sharing an invented gender, which is neither male nor female. [2] Eva died in Berlin on 21 May 2025. [3] [4]

Contents

They were also known for their performance art. [5] They had been represented by an art gallery since 1997, [6] as they made paintings, video art, photography, and costume design. [7] They also had their own perfume line and a watch with Swatch.

Eva & Adele were known to dress identically [8] in matching makeup, bald heads and ladylike outfits. [9] They were known for promoting trans rights [10] and taking selfies [11] with many fans as part of their art project entitled "Wherever we are is museum." [12]

Eva and Adele Venice Bienale 2011 EvaAdele2011.jpg
Eva and Adele Venice Bienale 2011

They were recognized as the world's longest running performance art duo [13] and were often photographed as fashion icons [14] at art events, like Art Basel Miami Beach and the Venice Biennale. [15]

History

German artists Eva & Adele at the Vienna Art Fair in 2011. Eva-adele-artstars.jpg
German artists Eva & Adele at the Vienna Art Fair in 2011.
Eva & Adele in 2013 at MARTa Hertford Museum in Hertford, Germany Eva+Adele Eroffnung am 10.3.2013 im MARTa Herford Publikumslieblinge.jpg
Eva & Adele in 2013 at MARTa Hertford Museum in Hertford, Germany

The duo claimed that since they met they vowed never to spend a night apart, nor to receive guests in their house without being fully made up. They were married in 2011, after a three year battle to get Eva's sex listed as female on her birth certificate.

Eva (who was taller) argued to the court that although her body was a man, her soul was not. After reading numerous psychiatric and psychological reports, the judge agreed. Eva's birth certificate was then reissued with her sex as female. [16]

They were on many "best dressed" lists. [17] In 2015, they created their own watch with Swatch [18] which was released during the Venice Biennale. [19]

Their philosophy was called "Futuring," a belief that your thoughts create the future, similar to The Secret.

Artwork

In 2018, the duo had a 20 year retrospective featuring their Polaroid photos, [20] paintings, [21] drawings, art installations, and costume design work at the Me Collectors Room, a museum in Berlin, Germany. [22] They also had a retrospective at the Musee d'Art Moderne Paris in Paris, France in 2016. [23]

Their artwork has been called campy, [24] and the duo were described as stalwarts of the Berlin art scene. [25] They were known for looking like "a weird couple." [26]

In the media

From 1997 to 2002 Eva & Adele made appearances on the Channel 4 show Eurotrash as 'The Eggheads.' [27] They were interviewed by many YouTubers and local European TV stations. [28] Many photos of Eva & Adele can be found on photo agency websites like Getty Images and Shutterstock.

References

  1. Pidd, Helen (2011-11-01). "Eva & Adele: 'We invented our own sex'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  2. "Eva & Adele". Berlin Art Link. 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  3. Oltermann, Philip (2025-05-22). "Eva, one half of performance art duo 'from the future' Eva & Adele, has died". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  4. Greenberger, Alex (21 May 2025). "Eva, One Half of the Celebrity Artist Duo EVA & ADELE, Has Died". ARTnews. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  5. stayinart (2018-07-11). "Eva & Adele - A Radical Shared Existence" . Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  6. "Eva & Adele Biography – Eva & Adele on artnet". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  7. "Eva & Adele Wissender Hirsch - solo exhibition at Gallery Guy Bärtschi". Wilde. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  8. Hahn, Rachel (11 December 2017). "The Best Street Style at Art Basel? Let's Start With Frank Ocean's T-Shirt". Vogue. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  9. "Inside the Home of Art World Enigmas EVA & ADELE". PAPER. 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  10. "Transamerica/n: celebrating the underrepresented history of trans art". the Guardian. 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  11. "'Absolutely Vile' or 'Powerful'? Christoph Buchel's Migrant Boat Is the Most Divisive Work at the Venice Biennale". artnet News. 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  12. ""We met in the future, in the time machine."". www.collectorsagenda.com. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  13. "Eva & Adele: the world's longest running art performance". Deutsche Welle. 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  14. "Eva Adele Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images". www.gettyimages.ca. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  15. "Highlights from the Venice Biennale". PAPER. 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  16. Eva & Adele: 'We invented our own sex'
  17. "#TheArtFairsBestDressed of 2019". TheArtGorgeous. 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  18. "Swatch & La Biennale Arte 2015 in Venice. This is the Swatch Art Special created by Eva & Adele called Futuring by Eva & Adele ..." Watch-Insider.com. 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  19. "Everything You Missed at the Venice Biennale". artnet News. 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  20. "Eva & Adele - L'Amour du Risque". frieze.com. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  21. "The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition sees double for the first time". www.bbc.co.uk. 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  22. Michalina. "Eva & Adele: The Story of an Iconic Berlin Artist Couple". iHeartBerlin.de. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  23. "Eva & Adele". www.mam.paris.fr (in French). 30 September 2016. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  24. Karasz, Palko (2016-06-16). "London's Art Scene Hits Its Summer Frenzy". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  25. "Louisa Elderton at the 1st Art Berlin". www.artforum.com. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  26. "THE WEIRD COUPLE". The Independent. 1997-01-12. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  27. "A look back at Eurotrash - the 1990s most shocking show". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  28. "TV5MONDE- - Eva & Adele". www.tv5monde.com. Retrieved 2020-08-03.