Elena Sisto (born 1952, in Boston, MA) is an American painter based in New York.

Her work is influenced by Philip Guston, Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, and other modernist artists. She is known for her figurative paintings laden with symbolic meaning, that frequently focus on the experience of being a woman artist. In an essay published in March 2016,[1] critic and former Museum of Modern Art curator Robert Storr compared Sisto to contemporary artists Carroll Dunham and Dana Schutz.

Sisto received her BA in Art from Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design in 1977, and studied at the New York Studio School (with Nicholas Carone), the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and Yale Norfolk. She is a 2013 recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship[2] (see also: List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 2013), two National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist’s Fellowships (1983–84 and 1989–90), the Inglis Griswold Nelson Prize from the National Academy Museum and School (2008), and fellowships from the Hand Hollow Foundation (1995), Peter S. Reed Foundation (1999), Yaddo (2007), The Fine Arts Work Center (1996) and the Millay Colony (1987).[3]

Sisto has presented solo shows at the Katzen Museum of Art at American University,[4] the Maier Museum, The Greenville County Museum, and the Miami Dade Museum of Art + Design.[5] She has been included in numerous museum exhibitions, including the 43rd Biennial of Contemporary American Painting at The Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC, the Wexner Center for the Arts, Katonah Museum of Art, the Hunterdown Museum of Art, and the Weatherspoon Gallery.

Her work has been the subject of essays by Stephen Westfall,[6] Robert Storr, Debra Bricker Balken, Carol Kino, Hearne Pardee,[7] and inspired the fiction piece Pan’s Fair Throng by novelist Rick Moody.[8] Mentions and reviews of Sisto’s exhibitions have appeared in publications including the New York Times,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] New Yorker magazine,[18][19] Artcritical,[20] Artforum, Art in America,[21] Art News, Arts, The Brooklyn Rail,[22][23] Los Angeles Times, and Modern Painters.

Her work is currently represented by Lori Bookstein Fine Art in New York City. Past representation includes Jackie Littlejohn Gallery, Germans Van Eck Gallery, Damon Brandt Gallery, and Vanderwoude Tannenbaum Gallery.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Storr, Robert (28 March 2016). "Catalogue Essay: Robert Storr on Elena Sisto". Two Coats of Paint. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  2. ^ "All Fellows: Elena Sisto". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Elena Sisto - Artists - Lori Bookstein Fine Art". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Elena Sisto: New Work, American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC". Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  5. ^ Kreimer, Julian (24 April 2013). "Becoming Adults: The Paintings of Elena Sisto". Art in America. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  6. ^ Westfall, Stephan. "Elena Sisto's Personae". Elena Sisto - Press and Reviews. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  7. ^ Pardee, Hearne (3 May 2016). "Elena Sisto Afternoons". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  8. ^ Moody, Rick (2000). "Pan's Fair Throng". Conjunctions (34, American Fiction: STATES OF THE ART): 157–166.
  9. ^ Hagen, Charles (4 December 1992). "Art in Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  10. ^ Smith, Roberta (28 June 1991). "Art in Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  11. ^ Smith, Roberta (7 June 1994). "Art in Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  12. ^ Hagan, Charles (8 May 1992). "Art in Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  13. ^ Smith, Roberta (19 April 1996). "Arts - Also of Note". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  14. ^ Genocchio, Benjamin (25 April 2004). "ART REVIEW; Through a Global Prism". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  15. ^ Brenson, Michael (24 May 1985). "ART: A RARE EXHIBITION OF MODERN SWISS ART". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  16. ^ Smith, Roberta (7 November 1986). "JULIAN SCHNABEL EXHIBITION IS A HIGHLIGHT OF UPTOWN GALLERY HOPPING". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  17. ^ Johnson, Ken (23 October 1998). "ART GUIDE". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  18. ^ "Goings on About Town". The New Yorker. 11 May 2013.
  19. ^ "Goings Ons About Town - Art - Galleries - Chelsea". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  20. ^ Kardon, Dennis (10 May 2013). "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman: Elena Sisto at Lori Bookstein". Artcritical. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  21. ^ Kreimer, Julian (24 April 2013). "Becoming Adults: The Paintings of Elena Sisto". Art in America. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  22. ^ Pardee, Hearne (3 May 2016). "ELENA SISTO Afternoons". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  23. ^ Berlind, Robert (3 June 2013). "ELENA SISTO Between Silver Light and Orange Shadow". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  24. ^ "Faculty - Elena Sisto". SVA - BFA Fine Arts. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
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