Amy Sillman (b. 1955, Detroit, United States) explores the shifting relationship between abstraction and figuration. Her practice moves between painting, drawing, printmaking, and animation, developing a visual language in which forms appear, dissolve, and reconfigure over time.
Sillman studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and later received an MFA from Bard College. Her work draws on a wide range of references, from art history to comics and digital drawing. She often begins with drawing as a way of thinking, allowing marks and gestures to develop into layered compositions. This creates images that feel both structured and unstable, holding multiple states at once.
In recent years, Sillman has expanded her work into animation, publishing, and large-scale installations. Projects such as the exhibition The Shape of Shape at the Museum of Modern Art and Oh, Clock! (2024-25) reflect her interest in how painting can unfold across time and space, and how it can engage with museum collections in new ways.
Her work has been widely exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, United States); Camden Art Centre (London, United Kingdom); Kunsthaus Bregenz (Bregenz, Austria); the Arts Club of Chicago (Chicago, United States); and Kunstmuseum Bern (Bern, Switzerland). She has also taken part in major group exhibitions such as the 59th Venice Biennale (Venice, Italy, 2022) and continues to present new work in institutions across Europe and the United States.
Sillman’s work is held in major public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (New York, United States); Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, United States); Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, United States); Tate Modern (London, United Kingdom); Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, United States); Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (Paris, France); and Moderna Museet (Stockholm, Sweden), among others.