Last updated: 27 October 2026
Amy Sillman is the New York painter whose abstract and figurative work keeps changing as she paints over it. Here you will find our take on her paintings, animations and writing, her recent shows and her move to David Zwirner.
Our take on Amy Sillman
Sillman works across painting, drawing, animation, printmaking and writing. “I’m always working against what I feel to be a force or a form that I deeply love,” she told Apollo before her Camden Arts Centre show in 2018.
Her canvases build up and wipe away layers until shapes and figures half-appear. Barry Schwabsky described it in Artforum as a process “in which adding is also effacing”, a line David Zwirner quoted when it began representing her in January 2026.
She is also a writer: her essays are collected in Faux Pas (After 8 Books, 2020).
Amy Sillman: the essentials
- Born in Detroit in 1955; based in New York, according to David Zwirner.
- BFA from the School of Visual Arts (1979) and MFA from Bard College (1995).
- Guggenheim Fellowship in Painting (2001) and the Yaddo Artist Medal (2024).
- Taught at the Städelschule in Frankfurt (2014 to 2019) and Bard College (1997 to 2013).
- Represented by David Zwirner from 2026; her first show there is planned for New York in 2027.
Amy Sillman exhibitions
- Betty Parsons: An Expanded World, co-curated by Sillman with her plinth paintings, Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, 27 June to 18 October 2026.
- Alternate Side (Permutations #1–32), Dia Bridgehampton, New York, 28 June 2025 to 25 May 2026.
- Oh, Clock!, Ludwig Forum Aachen, 22 March to 31 August 2025, after Kunstmuseum Bern.
- Amy Sillman: Landline, Camden Arts Centre, London, 28 September 2018 to 6 January 2019.
Amy Sillman FAQs
Which gallery represents Amy Sillman?
David Zwirner, since January 2026. Her first show there is planned for New York in 2027.
Has Amy Sillman shown in the UK?
Yes. Camden Arts Centre held Landline from 28 September 2018 to 6 January 2019.
Where is Amy Sillman from?
She was born in Detroit in 1955 and is based in New York.
Does Amy Sillman write?
Yes. Her essays are collected in Faux Pas (After 8 Books, 2020).
More from CoolCuration
- Cecily Brown at the Serpentine review: another painter working between abstraction and the figure.
- Flavin and Judd at Zwirner review: a show at her new gallery’s London space.
- Frieze London review: where London’s big galleries show their artists.
- Gifts for artists: our edit of presents for people who make things.
Think we’re missing something, got something wrong, or want to be featured? Contact us.
Main image: Amy Sillman. Photo: Tony Rinaldo, courtesy of the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates and prices last checked: 27 October 2026.
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