After graduating from Amherst College in 1983, Elliott Arkin got his Start in New York as window designer for Tiffany & Co. and a special-effects model-builder for films and commercials. In 1995, Tiffany’s selected Arkin to succeed in designing their Christmas windows. He also,created the Andy Warhol jewelry collection for the Andy Warhol Foundation. These experiences continue to inform his work, which operates in the spaces between high art and popular culture.
Arkin’s work first gained recognition in the art world when he created 3D visual commentaries for artnet.com from 1999 – 2005. These sculptures, often spoofing the contemporary art scene, gained a large following and began to be collected by prominent curators, critics and artists such as Maurizio Cattelan, Tom Otterness and others. His sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and they are currently in several permanent collections, including the Louvre Museum’s Musee des Arts Decoratifs, New York Historical Society, the New York Public Library and the Flint Institute of Art.
Arkin’s solo exhibitions have garnered reviews in publications such as the Village Voice and Art in America. In 2013 The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice, France has announced a solo exhibition of his work.
Arkin has created work for numerous cause related organizations, including the New York City Ballet’s anti-AIDS campaign; Muhammad Ali’s World Healing Project; The Nelson Mandela Foundation Project for Human Rights and Amnesty International.
In keeping with his refusal to adhere to traditional hierarchies, Arkin has also spearheaded several art-entrepreneurial projects and is currently the executive director for “Mister ArtSee”, a mobile arts laboratory that is designed to be a national symbol and advocate for the arts and art education.
Permanent Public & Private Collections
Flint Institute of the arts, Flint, Michigan
Louvre Museum, Musee des Arts Decoratifs
Museum of Modern and contemporary Art (MAMAC), Nice France
National Dance Museum
New York Historical Society
New York Public Library
Exhibitions
2013 MAMAC museum – Solo Exhibition – Nice, France
2013 Marymount Manhattan College – Arts & Politics, NY, NY
2012 The Brucennial – Bruce High Quality Foundation, Group Exhibition, NY, NY
2010 The Brucennial – Bruce High Quality Foundation, Group Exhibition, NY, NY
2010 Art and Architecture, Gowanus Ballroom, NY, NY
2009 Half Gallery, Mister ArtSee, solo exhibition, New York, New York
2007 In the Memory of Elliot Arkin, Akus Gallery, (40 year retrospective) Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT
2006 The Armory Show, Artnet.com
2005 Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, Group Show, New York, New York
2004 The Slide Show (solo), Artek Contemporaries, New York, New York
2004 Freud: The Creative Analysis of Analysis, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
2002 Scent, Proposition Gallery, New York, New York
2001 18 Alumni Artists, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA
2000 Le Cadre Grand (solo), Gallery 557 West 24th Street, New York, New York
1999 The Sculpture Center, New York, New York
1999 NYCB 50th Anniversary, New York Historical Society, New York, New York
1992 The Purloined Image, Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, Michigan
Special Projects and Commissions
2002 – Nelson Mandela SOS – Senior Design Director for EPOP productions world-wide partnership with Nelson Mandela. Designed universal human rights symbol representing Mandela’s initiative to end the AIDS crisis.
2000 – Andy Warhol Jewelry Collection – Founded and created jewelry based on the work of Andy Warhol for the Andy Warhol Foundation.
1999 – Louvre Museum – Acquisition of a work of art in jewelry titled : Extrait de “le Cadre” le Baiser, Permanent Collection, Musee des Arts Decoratifs.
1996 – Muhammad Ali World Healing Project – Director in charge of coordinating the visual arts community’s response to Muhammad Ali’s efforts for world healing and tolerance. Designed awards and symbols as well as developed cultural events for the World Healing Project.
1995 – Tiffany & Co. Christmas Windows – Commissioned to design and create the Christmas Windows for Tiffany’s flagship store at 57th and 5th Avenue. The first person in forty years to design the Christmas Windows following the retirement of the legendary Gene Moore.
Selected Publications
2012 – ArtPress Magazine – Robert Storr, Once Over Lightly, June, pp:88-90,
2010 — The Pleasures of Contamination: Evidence, Text, and Voice in Textual Studies (Textual Cultures:Theory and Praxis) by David Greetham , Indiana University Press
2005 – Art in America – Cary Levine – The Slide Show, February, pp: 130-131
2004 – The Village Voice; Kim Levin, Voice Choice – April 28 – May 4, Vol XLIX No. 17, pg.89
2004 – New York Times; Benjamin Genocchio, Freud: A Creative Analysis of Analysis, Sunday 4/04/2004, CT Weekly, Section 14CN, Pg. 6
2003 – Supercollector: A Critique of Charles Saatchi-second edition, Rita Hatton, John A. Walker; Institute of Artology, London, UK, pg. 180-181 2000 – Louvre Museums Publication: A L’Inventaire: Acquisitions Du Musee des Arts Decoratifs – 1995 – 1999; Union des Arts Decoratifs, 2000
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