ELYN ZIMMERMAN
Born in Philadelphia in 1945, Elyn Zimmerman grew up in Los Angeles and earned her MFA from UCLA in1972, studying photography with Robert Heineken and painting with Richard Diebenkorn. She was also influenced by the 1960s Southern California art scene which was dominated by the Light and Space movement. Immersed in this experimental and perceptual artistic culture, her work changed from traditional painting and photography to installation projects and use of experimental materials. From 1970 to 1972, she worked as a lab technician and photography assistant in the studio of Charles and Ray Eames in Venice, California.
During the 1970s, Zimmerman created a number of temporary, site-specific installations, exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Hudson River Museum, the Walker Art Center, the Berkeley Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC. Her work was exhibited in the 1974 Whitney Biennial. In 1977, a formative journey to archaeological sites in India led her to focus on outdoor projects in stone and other natural materials.
Her permanent public works are rooted in an exploration of material, form, and perception. They often incorporate stone in dialogue with water, through reflecting pools or fountains, and integrate landscaping elements. Among her major public commissions are the 1993 World Trade Center Memorial in New York, inaugurated in 1995 and destroyed in 2001; the sculpture garden at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama; a fountain and seating area for AT&T headquarters in New Jersey; and the 1982 design of the plaza at the National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington DC, featuring a granite sculpture set in a large pool. This work, titled Marabar, was relocated in 2022 to the campus of American University under a new name, Sudama.
In 2019, she completed Mississippi Meanders for the Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The work consists of a 21-meter-long architectural glass walkway embedded with site-specific imagery and supported by a steel framework. It is her first large-scale use of architectural glass.
Zimmerman’s work lies at the intersection of formal experimentation, landscape sculpture, and sensory engagement with space, light, and the elements. Her practice articulates a visual language that is both rigorous and poetic, shaped by a deep curiosity for material and spatial experience.
Her work has received significant recognition, including three Artist Fellowship Awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, a CAPS Artist Fellowship from the State of New York, a Japan US Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship, the New Talent Award from LACMA, a residency at the American Academy in Rome in 2010, and the Isamu Noguchi Award in 2016.
In parallel with her artistic career, Zimmerman taught in universities in California and New York from 1974 to 1986. She has also been invited to teach in graduate programs in architecture and landscape architecture at institutions such as Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia.
SELECTED ARTWORKS
SOLO SHOWS
2017 “Sensitive Chaos”, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, United States of America
2016 “Wind, Water, Stone”, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, United States of America
2005 New Photography, Skestos-Gabriele Gallery, Chicago, United States of America
2004 Photography, Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, United States of America
2003 Photography, Gagosian Gallery, New York, United States of America
2001 New Drawings, Gagosian Gallery, New York, United States of America
1998 Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, United States of America
1996 Gagosian Gallery, New York, United States of America
1995 Galeria SALLES, Rome, Italy
1993 Gagosian Gallery, New York, United States of America
1992 65 Thompson Street, New York, United States of America
1992 Fred Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, United States of America
1991 University of South Florida Art Museum, Tampa, United States of America
1988 Wave Hill, Riverdale, United States of America
1985 Joslyn Museum of Art, Omaha, United States of America
1984 Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, United States of America
1982 Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, United States of America
1981 Galleria del Cavallino, Venice, Italy
1979 Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, United States of America
1979 80 Langton Street, San Francisco, United States of America
1977 Institute for Art & Urban Resources, PS1, New York, United States of America
1976 Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, United States of America
1976 SITE, San Francisco, United States of America
1975 Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, United States of America
1975 Baxter Art Gallery, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States of America
1974 University Art Museum, Berkeley, United States of America
GROUP SHOWS (selection)
2025 “Ligne(s) de mire”, off-site show at the Bonisson Art Center, Bigaignon, Rognes, France
2023 ”The Dialectic of the Shadow”, Bigaignon, Paris, France
2021 “Light & Space” Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark
2015 “River Crossings: Contemporary Art Comes Home”, Thomas Cole National Historic Site & Olana Historic Site, United States of America
2015 “Master Drawings New York” Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, United States of America
2014 Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE)" Guild Hall, East Hampton, United States of America
The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt", New York, United States of America
2010 "Painting and Sculpture: To Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts", Lehmann Maupin, United States of America
"Artpark: 1974-1984", UB Art Gallery, Center for the Arts, Buffalo, United States of America
2010 "Contemporary Impressionism: Light, Color, Form, Time", Art House, United States of America
-
2006 “Paper", Skestos Gabriele Gallery, Chicago, USA
2003 “"New World's Old World", AXA Galleries at Equitable Center, New York, USA
2002 "55 Water Street Competition", Municipal Art Society, Urban Center, NY, USA
2002 "New Drawings", Whitherspoon Gallery, Raleigh, USA
2002 "Imaginary Homelands", Center for Photography, Woodstock, USA
2000 "Environmental Sculptures", Dorsky Gallery, New York, USA
1999 "Waxing Poetic: Encaustic Art in America", Montclair Art Museum, USA
1998 "Face to Face/Art and the Public", Marlborough Gallery, USA
1998 "Urban Visions", Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, USA
1997 “New Works”, Betsy Senior Gallery, NYC
1996 "Some Grids", L.A. County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
1997 "Tenth Anniversary", Socrates Sculpture Park, LIC, USA
1997 "Sculpture 1996 - 1997", Leigh, Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, USA
1997 "Drawings and Photographs", Betsy Senior Gallery, USA
1992 "Benchmarks", Katonah Museum, Katonah, USA
1991 "Drawings", Lorence-Monk Gallery, USA
1991 "Green", Max Protetch Gallery, USA
1991 "Drawing Conclusions", Guidarte Gallery, USA
1990 "Natural Selection", Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, USA
1990 "Concept - Decoratif: Anti-formalist Art of the 70's", Nahan Contemporary Gallery, USA
1988 "Private Work for Public Spaces", R.C. Erpf Gallery, NYC
1987 "New York - Los Angeles", Marianne Deson Gallery, USA
1987 "Sculpture 1987", Curated by Sam Hunter & Marisa Del Re, Monte Carlo, Monaco
1987 "Arena Project", Landmark Art Project, San Diego, USA
1987 "Layers of Vision", Bette Stoler Gallery, USA
1986 "Memory Theater of Giulio Camillo", Creative Time Theatre Project, Brooklyn, USA
1986 "Sculpture for Public Spaces", Marisa Del Re Gallery, NYC, USA
1985 "Artists and Architects Collaborating", Cleveland Center of Contemporary Art, USA
1985 "Art & Architecture & Landscape", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA
1985 "Artist as Social Designer", Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA
1985 “Light and Heavy Light”, Camera Works and others, San Francisco, USA
1983 "Directions 1983", Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.
1982 "Shift: LA/NY", Newport Harbor Art Museum, CA; also Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY, USA
1981"Window Room Furniture", Houghton Gallery, Cooper Union, NYC; also Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
1981 "New Visions", Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, USA
1981 "Artists' Gardens and Parks", Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA
1980 "Architectural Sculpture", LAICA, Los Angeles, USA
1980 "Drawings: The Pluralist Decade", Venice Biennale, USA, Venice, Italy; & Institute of Contemporary Art, Phila, USA
1980 "California Sculpture 1975-80", San Diego Museum of Art, USA
1979 "Sculptors' Photographs", Hunter College Art Gallery, NYC, USA
1979 "Eight Artists: The Elusive Image", Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
1979 "Custom & Culture Part II", U.S. Customs House, Sponsored by Creative Time, NYC, USA
1977 "Photography As Means", Palomar College, San Marcos, USA
1976 "Biennale of Sydney", Sydney, Australia
1974 "Whitney Biennial", Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, USA
1973 "The Factor Collection", Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, USA
DISTINCTIONS
2016 Isamu Noguchi Award, Noguchi Museum, Long Island City, United States of America
2015 San Francisco's Best Public Open Spaces, CURBED/SF,United States of America
2010 Great Places in America Award /Public Spaces, The Charles Ireland Sculpture Garden, Birmingham Museum of Art
2010 Resident American Academy in Rome (RAAR '10) Roy Lichtenstein Residency
2007 Excellence in Design for Capsouto Park, Art Commission of the City of New York, United States of America
1986 Bessie Award - Set Design for "Memory Theater of Giulio Camillo," Creative Time, NYC, United States of America
1985 ASLA - Maryland Chapter for National Geographic Society Plaza, Washington D.C , United States of America
1982 Artist Fellowship Grant, National Endowment for the Arts, United States of America
1981 Japan - US Creative Artist Exchange Fellowship, residency in Japan
1980 Artist Fellowship Grant, National Endowment for the Arts
1980 C.A.P.S. Artist Fellowship Grant, NY, United States of America
1976 Artist Fellowship Grant, National Endowment for the Arts, United States of America
1976 New Talent Award, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, United States of America
COLLECTIONS (selection)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, United States of America
Whitney Museum of American Art, United States of America
Museum of Modern Art, United States of America
British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Besthoff Sculpture Garden, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, United States of America
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover , United States of America
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, United States of America
Chase Manhattan Bank Corporation
Best Products, Inc.
Commodities Corporation
General Mills Corporation
AT&T Corporation
Equitable Corporation
Clos Pegase Winery Sculpture Garden, Napa Valley, United States of America
Goldman Sachs Corporate Collection
Henry Buehl Collection, United States of America
Bear Stearns Corporate Collection, United States of America
Wynn Kramarsky Collection, United States of America