News

March 2024

February 2024

Stained Glass Window Commission for The Mill, Westport, NY

I’m thrilled to be working on a commission for a stained glass window for The Mill in Westport, NY. The Mill is an old flour mill which is currently being transformed into a performing arts and exhibition space. My project, Fenestra Molendini, will be sited above the performance stage. I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Franz Mayer of Munich, one of the world’s leading fabricators of transitional stained glass. This project is due to be installed this summer. Stay tuned for more information.

July 2023

Technosignatures Catalogue Release

I’m thrilled to announce the catalogue for Technosignatures, my solo exhibition at Robischon Gallery. The full color catalogue is 106 pages and includes exhibition notes and six ChatGPT essays. Each has a unique custom dish jacket. I will reserve a few copies and will make them available for sale here. Stay tuned!

May 2023

Technosignatures, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO

I’m very pleased to announce my exhibition, Technosignatures, opening at Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO on May 25, 2023, with a reception from 6-8 PM. The exhibition runs through September 30, 2023.

From the exhibition notes:

Technosignature (n.) any measurable property or effect that provides scientific
evidence of past or present technology

In her fourth Robischon Gallery solo exhibition, entitled Technosignatures, New Mexico artist Amy Ellingson offers a diverse constellation of works, including paintings, robotic drawings, tapestry, and glazed porcelain sculpture. Ellingson has used digital imagery as the basis for her paintings for over three decades. She is interested in the vast, incalculable effects of the rise of digital technology on both artistic production and on the experience of looking at art. At the same time, she is invested in the practice of painting as a deeply humanistic activity. Her work is a conflation of traditional methodologies and new technologies, of hand-made and digitally produced, of strict protocol and strategic work-arounds, of natural and artificial, and of fast and slow. Her work addresses this moment in time, in which we, as a species, are betwixt and between the analog past and a digitally immersive future. read more

May 2023

Tapestry Project with Magnolia Editions

I’m thrilled to announce my second collaboration with Magnolia Editions. We created two large-scale tapestries, Grand Loop Variation No. 1 and Grand Loop Variation No. 2. This project is the fruition of my interest in jacquard weaving; the Jacquard machine, patented in 1804, simplified the weaving process by using punch cards to determine designs and patterns in the weaving process. This early technology is considered an important step in the history of computing. Magnolia Editions’ notable innovation within this time-honored tradition involves the computerization of custom palettes. The tapestries are woven at a small, family-owned mill in Belgium. The Grand Loop Variation tapestries are closely related to the paintings in the Loop suite, but are unique designs created specifically for the weaving process. It’s a dream come true to work with the team at Magnolia again, with their cutting edge digital expertise, to create works that have such deep, historical associations. Tapestries have distinct tactile and optical qualities, as they are woven in low-relief. Colors literally recede and advance in physical space. And, of course, tapestries represent centuries of skill and craft in terms of their presence as art objects. I appreciate the history of the medium, not least because of its relationship to early computing devices.

Both tapestries are 96 x 80 inches. They are in editions of 6 + proofs.

They will debut in my exhibition, Technosignatures, which opens May 25, 2023 at Robischon Gallery in Denver.

February 2023

45+, Part II at Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO

I’m very pleased to participate in 45+, Part II at Robischon Gallery. The gallery is celebrating over 45 years in business in Denver. The exhibition is on view through May 13, 2023.

June 2022

Summer Exhibition, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO

I’m pleased to have three new paintings in the Summer Exhibition at Robischon Gallery in Denver. The exhibition also includes works by Ana Maria Hernando, Jonathan Parker, Don Voisine, David Fought, and Jim Osman, and is on view June 24 - August 13.

November 2021

Untitled Art Miami Beach, November 29 - December 4

I am thrilled to be exhibiting new work at Untitled Art Miami Beach this year! LOOP is a solo booth presentation with Eli Ridgway Gallery, on view November 29 -December 4. For more information on the fair, click here. To see the works in LOOP, click here. I hope to see you in Miami!

November 2021

Large Variation: Blue, Sam Houston State University, Conroe, Texas

I’m very pleased that Large Variation: Blue has been installed in its permanent location in the lobby of the new College of Osteopathic Medicine building at Sam Houston State University in Conroe, Texas. Large Variation: Blue is designed to optimize the grand atrium lobby space, connecting the structural levels of the building, as well as bringing a sense of color and light from outdoors to indoors. The mural was commissioned by SHSU and fabricated by Mosaika Art & Design, Montreal. To see more images, click here.

September 2021

Root Division’s Annual Auction, Thursday, October 21, 2021

I’m very pleased to continue to support the San Francisco arts non-profit, Root Division.

Collect art, support arts education, and be inspired by artists at Root Division’s largest annual fundraising event! Root Division is proud to feature an eclectic mix of high quality artwork from over 100 established and emerging Bay Area artists, including plenty of shining and rising stars!

Proceeds directly benefit local artists, free art classes for Bay Area youth, and the continued success of Root Division’s unique model for keeping artists working at the heart of San Francisco.

For this year’s Annual Auction, I have donated a framed painting from my recent exhibition, The Mountains Are In Us.

May 2021

The Mountains Are In Us, Eli Ridgway Gallery

I’m pleased to announce my solo exhibition with Eli Ridgway Gallery in Bozeman, Montana.

The Mountains Are In Us

“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”

— John Muir

Since moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico in late 2018, I’ve been asked to what degree my new environment influences my work. It’s a difficult question; on one hand, my approach to the work is constant and has never been overtly influenced by my surroundings. On the other hand, in recent years I have been more aware of the porousness of the studio walls; of course life experiences filter into the work in subtle ways—how could it be otherwise? 

I tend to think through the sine qua non of painting the way that I imagine mathematicians, physicists, and astronomers think of the problems inherent in their respective fields; constants, rules, facts, and truths sit, cheek by jowl, alongside hypotheses, mysteries, and hunches. Constraints and parameters render the possibilities infinitely more tantalizing. Paintings share the facts of their making and reveal evidence of a succession of decisions, actions, and applications of one medium, color, or shape on top of another. In addition, paintings have the capacity to communicate thought, feeling and philosophy through a complex combination of association and suggestion. They also record succinct blocks of time; one starts a painting, and eventually finishes it, and it just might be possible that everything that is experienced adjacent and concurrent to the making of a painting somehow ends up in that painting, subtly embedded within its manifestation.  

This body of work was made during a once-in-a-century pandemic that gripped our imaginations as much as it affected our day-to-day, physical, material existence. Within the hermetic and solitary process of making paintings, the dense thicket of my thoughts overwhelmed me at times. Hence, the daily practice of walking. I’ve walked well over a thousand miles since I began the work for this exhibition. Trail walking demands that the eyes stay on the ground for the most part, which suits me fine because, if I’m outdoors, I’m likely to be on the hunt for the perfect rock, potsherd, or fossil. Over the weeks and months of walking, I noticed that the landscape of Northern New Mexico is incredibly convoluted, thatched, and brambly. Everything is connected, layered, attached, intertwined, and interdependent. Most native plants seem inclined to grow down and sideways—not just skyward—as if to gain every advantage toward improving the chance of survival. 

As I walked, I observed my surroundings and simultaneously obsessed over the goings-on in the studio. Inevitably, John Muir’s words, “We are now in the mountains and they are in us…” cropped up and rang in my head like a mantra, repeating and repeating in a loop, until I’d look up from the trail to regard the various mountain ranges that cradle Santa Fe. Muir’s evocative phrase suggests the anticipation of arrival as well as a recognition of our deep connection to the large masses of rock, soil, and vegetation that protrude, often in dramatic fashion, from the gentler contours of the earth.

A vast landscape ringed by mountains is an ideal arena for contemplation; the gaze is free to roam, yet is gently contained by an undulating boundary. Our local and storied mountains, always in sight, spurred thoughts of Cézanne and his many paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire. The idea of repeatedly representing an object or idea that is at once completely familiar yet ultimately ineffable; one that is concrete and tangible, but also full of symbolic meaning; one that is local and specific, yet also universal…well…as a painter, I understand his undying fascination with the mountain that was right out the back door, yet ever distant. Cézanne used the mountain as a template for deconstruction, for understanding, for precision in the expression of everything as a fragmented yet unified patchwork of cones, spheres, and cylinders, defining structure and spatial depth. I like to imagine that he also used the mountain as a stand-in for painting itself; the ever-shifting, elusive nature of it; its omnipresence; its mysteries.

The Mountains Are In Us opens on Saturday, May 22. Please join us for the opening reception May 22, 3-6 PM. Visit Eli Ridgway Gallery for details.

November 2020

Print Project with Shark’s Ink.

In early September, I made my second trip to Shark’s Ink. in Lyons, Colorado. It was wonderful to be invited back to create another pair of lithographs with Bud Shark and his team, especially because we were able to build upon last year’s experience. This time around, I endeavored to create a pair of prints that I would never be able to execute as paintings, due to the complexity and small-scale detail of the imagery. Once again, I wanted to take full advantage of the unique characteristics of lithography ink, which is deliciously brilliant and saturated, yet transparent.

My understanding of the lithography process is evolving, which allowed me to build my digital files in a more orderly way than I did last year. However, my increased experience also gave me license to make decisions that presented new challenges for us. The dark graphite line is the last color printed on both prints. The registration of the line element is extremely tight, and is meant to reference both Japanese printmaking and comic book illustration. I was interested in creating complex imagery primarily through the near-black line, while keeping most of the other colors as simple fills or blobs of color. In addition, there are thicker, colored line elements in each print which provide a lattice-like structure, holding and calming the otherwise free, somewhat chaotic compositions.

Each print is in an edition of 30, plus proofs. They are available for purchase from Shark’s Ink., as well as Eli Ridgway Gallery and Robischon Gallery.

August 2020

Bozeman Inaugural Exhibition, Eli Ridgway Gallery

I’m thrilled to have my work included in Eli Ridgway Gallery’s Inaugural Exhibition at the gallery’s new space in Bozeman, Montana. The exhibition also features the work of Anne Appleby, James Chronister, Wolfgang Ganter, James Sterling Pitt, and Andy Vogt, and is on view through October 3, 2020. To learn more, click here.

July 2020

Firmament, Robischon Gallery

After a bit of a delay due to the COVID-19 crisis, I’m pleased to report that my solo exhibition, Firmament, will open at Robischon Gallery in Denver, CO on July 16, 2020. For up to date information about visiting the exhibition while observing safety and health precautions, please contact the gallery.

To view all of the works in the exhibition, click here.

February 2020

Alcoves 20/20 #3 at the New Mexico Museum of Art

I’m happy to be included in this exhibition in at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, my new hometown. Please join me for the public events listed below.

December 2019

Ceramic Mosaic Mural

Last spring, I was awarded a commission for a 26 x 26 foot ceramic mosaic mural which will be installed in a new building on the Sam Houston State University campus in Conroe, Texas. The mural is being fabricated by Mosaika Art & Design in Montreal, Quebec. As you may recall, Mosaika fabricated Untitled (Large Variation), on permanent view in Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport. I’m thrilled to be working with Mosaika again, and very excited to contribute to SHSU’s vibrant art on campus program.

Large Variation (blue) will be installed at SHSU July 2021.

September 2019

Print Project with Shark’s Ink.

I spent the last two weeks of August in beautiful Lyons, Colorado, working with Bud Shark on two new prints. The prints are twelve color lithographs, each in an edition of 30, plus proofs. They will be available for purchase December 2019. To learn more about this project, click here.

June 2019

Interview with Sarah Thibault

Sarah Thibault, artist, writer and creator of Artist + Travel, recently interviewed me about my move to Santa Fe, NM, my new studio and my experiences and advice about residencies. To read Interview with Amy Ellingson: How To Do An Artist Residency (And Not Be A Jerk), click here.

June 2019

Recent Commission for a client in Washington, DC

February 2019

Eli Ridgway | Contemporary Art
Of a Piece | Variation: Apparent Reflectional Symmetry, Parts I & II

Eli Ridgway has commenced a new newsletter series, Of a Piece, which provides the opportunity for deeper inquiry into a single work or project. Eli and I had a great time revisiting Variation: Apparent Reflectional Symmetry, Parts I & II, my largest painting to date, and the centerpiece of my 2014 exhibition at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Iterations & Assertions. It was very interesting to discuss this work, five years on. To read this edition of Of a Piece, click here.

December 2018

Commission for the Kaiser Center, Oakland, CA

I recently created this piece fro the Kaiser Center in Oakland, CA. Photos by John Janca.

November 2018

Philosopher Paul Crowther’s
Geneses of Postmodern Art: Technology as Iconology

I am thrilled to be included in Paul Crowther’s latest book, Geneses of Postmodern Art: Technology as Iconology, published by Routledge. To read a longer excerpt, click here.

August 2018

Artist Talk at New Mexico Museum of Art

Please join me Friday, August 24 at 5:30 PM at the New Mexico Museum of Art. I will discuss my work in relation to the work of Frederick Hammersley. To view a PDF version of my lecture, click here.

May 2018

Identical/Variation (green, red, blue, black) 

I am pleased to announce my recent print project, published by Magnolia Editions. I thoroughly enjoyed this collaboration with the Master Printers at Magnolia, which allowed me to explore the complex layering potential of printmaking. Identical/Variation (green, red, blue, black) is a suite of four prints, each comprising an etching in black ink, printed at Magnolia from a plate created on Magnolia’s flatbed printer; elements of vibrant acrylic color; and a relief woodcut, printed in four different colors in variable orientation. Like the Identical/Variation theme that I have revisited over the years in my paintings, Identical/Variation (green, red, blue, black) employs a variable matrix that allows for the possibility of originality within the parameters of repetition.

March 2018

Sweetbitter Beast

Currently, I am busy preparing for my solo exhibition, which opens May 17 at Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO. Sweetbitter Beast includes four new paintings, a sculptural installation and a suite of four prints, published by Magnolia Editions.  

More information and images coming soon!

October 2017

About Abstraction: Bay Area Women Painters

Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts
September 24 - December 17, 2017

Political conversations have turned a renewed spotlight on women and their power and influence on every corner of society, including the arts. In the spirit of continued discovery, About Abstraction: Bay Area Women Painters celebrates 16 Bay Area women artists, emerging and established, who have worked in abstraction for years. There is no monolithic visual definition of abstraction, and this show provides a platform for a breadth of work that features precise, powerful lines, as well as gestural patterns.

While Bay Area art history is rooted in figurative art, the past few decades show us that abstract art is flourishing. The work in About Abstraction suggests a kinship with the Abstract Expressionist movement of 1940s SoHo and San Francisco, and illustrates the enduring vitality and power of nonrepresentational art for well over a century. 

Participating Artists:

Lorene Anderson, Eva Bovenzi, Donna Brookman, Heather Day, Amy Ellingson, Linda Geary, Rebekah Goldstein, Emanuela Harris-Sintamarian, Danielle Lawrence, Naomie Kremer, Michelle Mansour, Alicia McCarthy, Mel Prest, Cornelia Schulz, Michele Théberge, Canan Tolon

Click here to read a review by Barbara Morris of Square Cylinder.  

September 2017

Unfamiliar Again: Contemporary Women Abstractionists
Installation views

September 2017

I am very pleased to have begun working with Robischon Gallery in Denver, Colorado.  Robischon has included several of my works in the Fall 2017 exhibition, Concatenation, and we have scheduled a solo exhibition for 2018.  Stay tuned!  

August 2017

It's Auction Season!  

I am proud to support several Bay Area institutions with donations to their fundraising auctions.  If you want to score a small piece for your collection, and help raise funds for a terrific institution at the same time, attend one of these super-fun events.  

August 2017

UNFAMILIAR AGAIN: CONTEMPORARY WOMEN ABSTRACTIONISTS

Rachel Beach, Morgan Blair, Amy Ellingson, Brittany Nelson, Alyse Rosner, Barbara Takenanga, Anne Vieux

Hailing from across the United States, the artists in this exhibition explore new ways of abstraction based on experimental, process-oriented methods. Intended to defamiliarize common imagery, their works preclude figurative recognition or easy comprehension.

Their methods are nuanced, time-intensive, and often drawn from unlikely sources such as “DIY” videos on YouTube, Photoshop errors, digital distortions, smart phone apps, and manipulated or synthetic materials such as scanned iridescent paper or faux-suede finishes.

By devoting themselves to process, these established, mid-career, and emerging artists experience revelation in the deliberate progression of steps of creative expression. Such discovery remains elusive for viewers, however, as the artists encourage inquiry rather than providing immediate answers.

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Jennifer Wooster (NC ’91), Don Peters (A&S ’81), Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University, Ms. Valerie A. Besthoff, and the Newcomb Art Museum advisory board.

August 24 – December 23, 2017

Public opening reception September 6 at 6:30pm

Members reception September 6 at 5:30pm

August 2017

Robischon Gallery will present my work in Booth E27 at the 2017 Seattle Art Fair, August 3 - 6, 2017 | CenturyLink Field Event Center (WaMu Theater), Seattle

For more information about the fair, click here.

June 2017

Summer Exhibitions

My work will be included in several group exhibitions this summer.  More information coming soon!

April 2017-July 2017

Open Ended: Painting and Sculpture Since 1900 at SFMOMA

I am very pleased to announce that 50 Variations, my installation of fifty gouache works on paper, is currently on view at SFMOMA.  based on a skeletal or ‘wire-frame’ version of the forms that comprise the vernacular of my paintings. Produced in groups of ten, each group is relative to the previous, yet involves an increase in the manipulation and repetition of particular elements, emphasis on certain features and the preservation of formal details. Installed in a grid, they are meant to suggest a trickle-down effect of information—degrading, mutating and rebuilding over time.

January 2017

Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2017

I am very pleased to be included in Squarecylinder's Best of 2016 list.  

I am happy to start the year with two group exhibitions:  

Untitled, San Francisco, January 13-15

I will have a new piece in the Artadia booth at the Untitled fair in San Francisco. This is a special opportunity for two reasons:  first, Artadia was founded in San Francisco, and I was lucky to be among the very first group of Awardees in 1999.  Artadia's support, so long ago, made such a difference in my life and career, and I will always be grateful for this terrific organization.  Since then, Artadia has expanded to Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles and New York, providing unrestricted financial awards and career support to visual artists.

Second, 2017 is Untitled's first year in San Francisco! 

Spectral Hues: artists + color

Palo Alto Art Center, January 21-April 9
Reception: Friday, January 27, 7-10 PM
Artist Panel: Sunday, March 5, 2 PM

Artists exhibiting in Spectral Hues: artists + color include: Ann Appleby, Leo Bersamina, Omar Chacon, Freddy Chandra, Amy Ellingson, Eden V. Evans, Kristin Farr, Anoka Faruqee, Marguerite Fletcher, Stephen Giannetti, Mike Henderson, Karrie Hovey, Henry Jackson, Mitchell Johnson, Amy Kaufman, Keira Kotler, Richard Mayhew, Ron Nagle, Ruth Pastine, Mel Prest, Ken Price, Meghann Riepenhoff, Tamra Seal, Jenny Sharaf, Lisa Solomon, Victoria Wagner, and Nancy White.

Forty-five years ago the Palo Alto Art Center opened its doors with an exhibition exploring the conceptual use of color by Bay Area artists. As a continuation of the Art Center’s year-long celebration of its still vibrant service to the Palo Alto community, Spectral Hues examines light and color in the work of today’s Bay Area artists by featuring a selection of works that explore the presence, or lack, of color along with the optical and emotional influence of color on the viewer, and the interaction of light and color. I am very pleased to be included in this exhibition, curated by Sharon Bliss, especially since I'll be in the company of so many artists that I know and admire.

September 2016

Advance press for Chopping Wood on the Astral Plane

I recently had the pleasure of a studio visit with David M. Roth of Squarecylinder, just as I was finishing work on new paintings for my October exhibition with Eli Ridgway | Contemporary Art at Minnesota Street Project.  Click here to read full article. 

September 2016
Coming soon! 
Solo exhibition

Chopping Wood on the Astral Plane

Eli Ridgway | Contemporary Art

Minnesota Street Project, October 1 - 29, 2016

Exhibition: October 1–October 29, 2016
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 1, 6:00pm–8:00pm
Panel Discussion: Saturday, October 15, 4:00pm
(with Cathy Kimball, Charlotte Eyerman and Amy Ellingson)
Closing Reception: Saturday, October 29, 4:00pm–6:00pm 

Map & Visitor Information

December 2015
Recent Press for Untitled (Large Variation), San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 3

Please click headlines to read full articles.

November 2015
I am pleased to announce the acquisition of 50 Variations by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art!

50 Variations is a series of fifty gouache works on paper based on a skeletal or ‘wire-frame’ version of the forms that comprise the vernacular of my paintings. Produced in groups of ten, each group is relative to the previous, yet involves an increase in the manipulation and repetition of particular elements, emphasis on certain features and the preservation of formal details. Installed in a grid, they are meant to suggest a trickle-down effect of information—degrading, mutating and rebuilding over time.

I worked on this series from 2008 to 2011 in my San Francisco studio and at residencies at the Ucross Foundation and MacDowell Colony. 50 Variations was exhibited in One Thing Leads to Another: Seriality in Works on Paper at the San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, November 12, 2011 – February 25, 2012 and in my solo exhibition Field Theories at Shoichiro/ProjeKcts by Projects, November 27, 2014 – January 7, 2015.

I am thrilled that 50 Variations will now be part of the permanent collection at SFMOMA!

August 2015
I'm very pleased to participate in Resonate: Root Division's Inaugural Exhibition, the first exhibition in Root Division's new home in San Francisco.

RESONATE: Root Division's Inaugural Exhibition

With a curatorial focus on engagement and interaction, the value of artistic survival, and shifts in the cultural landscape, inaugural exhibition curators Dana Hemenway and Amy Cancelmo have developed a show that highlights what Root Division does best: present occasions for artists to deepen their practice by creating and exhibiting exciting new works; provide a space for the public to interact and engage with exhibited artworks; afford audiences of all ages ongoing opportunities to create and learn. The featured works in RESONATE will collectively celebrate Root Division, highlight the value and depth of the organization’s artistic community, and its continued beneficial impact on Bay Area sustainability in the arts. 

Exhibition Dates: September 12- 26, 2015

2nd Sat Reception:  Saturday, September 12, 2015 - 7:00pm to 11:00pm

Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 2-6pm (or by appointment)

July 21, 2015

Mural Installation at San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 3 is Complete!

The installation of Untitled (Large Variation) is complete.  Many thanks to the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco International Airport and Mosaika Art & Design.

To read about the installation process, see my  blog.

To read the San Francisco Arts Commission press release about my project, click here.

To read Mosaika Art & Design's installation blog, click here.

June 8, 2015

Mural Installation Commences at San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 3

San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 3

In July 2010, I was awarded a commission for a large public art project by the San Francisco Arts Commission: a 10’ x 109’ ceramic mosaic mural for Terminal 3 at the San Francisco International Airport. The mural was fabricated by Mosaika Art & Design in Montreal, Quebec.  I’m honored to have the opportunity to create a piece for SFO and the City of San Francisco, and I look forward to sharing photos of the construction process. The scheduled installation date is June/July 2015, and the Grand Opening will occur in November 2015.

I will be blogging every step of the way during the installation process. 

More soon on this project.

Solo Exhibition:  Field Theories
 
Shoichiro/ProjeKcts by Projects
November 27, 2014 – January 7, 2015

Field Theories consists of a selection of recent works, including two new oil and encaustic paintings, an installation of fifty gouache drawings and a grouping of six oil on linen shaped paintings. The title of the exhibition alludes to mathematical, physical, psychological and sociological concepts. Together, the works in Field Theories address the relativity and interdependency of objects within a dynamic field.

Click to view works in exhibition