1958 Born in Washington DC
Currently lives and works in New York City
Education
1987 M.F.A. Sculpture, Yale School of Art
1984 New York Studio School
1982 B.A. Art History, Tufts University
B.F.A Sculpture, Tufts University
1982 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
Awards
2001 AICA USA, Best Show in a Public Space (second prize)
1997 New York Foundation for the Arts, Sculpture
1994 National Endowment for the Arts, Sculpture
1991 Mid-Atlantic Foundation Fellowship, Sculpture
1989 Artists Space Grant
1988 Art Matters Grant
1987 Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship
1985 Yale School of Art Fellowship
Solo Exhibitions
2008
Pink Arms, Pairs and Bumps, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas TX
Just What Is It That Makes Today=s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (Collaboration with Ingrid Schaffner), Testsite, Austin, TX
2007
Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy Certainly (Chartreuse) / Really (Red), Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Dusseldorf
2006
Blood Shot Pot, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2005
Hole/Pot/Dot, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Ice Queen, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf
La Flor del Paraiso 2, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York
Editions Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
2004
Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Denmark
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
La Flor del Paraiso, Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark
2003
In the O, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York
2002
Sea Green Petunia, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf
2001
Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York
2000
Ginza Artspace, Shiseido Co., Tokyo Watching Her Feat, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia
1999
Photographs, Susan Inglett, New York
Super-8 Films, GAGA, New York
Kunstverein Ulm, Germany
Ezra & Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1998
Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy
1997
Stuffed Cat, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
1996
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Beverly Semmes: Big Silver, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
She Moves, Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York
Big Silver, Michael Klein Gallery, New York
1995
Kemper Museum for Contemporary Art and Design, Kansas City, MO
Baxter Gallery, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
1994
Michael Klein Inc., New York Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
James Hockey Gallery, WSCAD, Farnham, UK
Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, UK
Camden Arts Centre, London
1993
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
5501 Columbia, Contemporary Culture Inc., Dallas, TX
South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
1992
The Sculpture Center, New York 1990
Special Projects, P.S.1 Museum, Long Island City, NY
Artists Space, New York
Group Exhibitions
2008
Sheldon Survey: An Invitational, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
2007
Post Dec, Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, Connecticut
2006
The Bong Show (Or This is Not a Pipe), Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, NY
Ice Queen, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
DressCode, Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Transitional Objects: Contemporary Still Life, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
2005
An Inner Glow, Kunstverein Kunsthalle, Linden, Germany
ME-tissages, Museum voor Industriele Archeologie en Textiel, Ghent, Belgium
SOMMERGÄSTE, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Clothesline: Art, Clothing, Identity, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
Pairs, Groups, and Grids, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York
On Conceptual Clothing, Kirishima Open-Air Museum, Kagoshima, Japan
Art-Robe, Unesco, Paris
2004
On Conceptual Clothing, Musashino Art University and Library, Tokyo
Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
About Sculpture, The Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY
Corporal identity - Body Language: The moving Image, video program at the Donnell Media Library in conjunction with the Museum of Art & Design exhibition
2003
Imago: 10 Ans d'acquisitions du FRAC Franche-Comte, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dole, France
New Material as New Media: The Fabric Workshop and Museum at 25 Years, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Wrapture, Consolidated Works, Seattle, WA
Me, Myself & I: Looking at Portraiture, CRG Gallery, New York
2002
Into the Woods, Julie Saul Gallery, New York
Art Unlimited, Basel 2002, Basel, Switzerland
Knockout Fairground, Washington Square East Gallery, New York
Almost Warm and Fuzzy: Childhood and Contemporary Art, Cleveland Center for the Arts, Cleveland, OH
Rapture: Art=s Seduction by Fashion 1970-2002, The Barbican Centre, London, UK
New York New Work Now, The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire
Primal Screams and Song: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
Nicole Klagsburn Gallery, New York
Dangerous Beauty, The Jewish Community Center, New York
Objects of Desire, Jan Abrams Fine Arts, New York
2001
Recent Acquisitions, The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.
Zwischenraum #5: Sculpture and Object, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Objective Color, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Uncommon Threads, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Sonsbeek 9: Locus/Focus, Arnhem, The Netherlands
Untragbar: Mode als Skulpture, Museum für angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany
About the Bayberry Bush, The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY Issue 17: World View, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston (traveling exhibition)
Skowhegan Faculty 2001, Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, ME
The First 10 Years: Selected Works from the Collection, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
New Work: Recent Additions to the Collection, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
Brooklyn Collects, The Brooklyn Museum, NY
Selections from the Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
Ellipsis, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York
2000
The Likeness of Being: Contemporary Self-Portraits by Sixty Women Artists, DC Moore Gallery, New York
Multiples, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf
Beauty Now, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
1999
Textil, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany
Regarding Beauty, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.
The Rubell Family Collection of Contemporary Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
The Body in Question, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
School Reunion, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London
A Space to Grow, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin Almost Warm and Fuzzy; Childhood and Contemporary Art, Des Moines Art Center, IA (traveling exhibition)
1998
Masters of the Masters, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
L'entrelacement et l'enveloppe, La Villa du Parc, Annemasse, France
The Secret Life of Clothes, Artium Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan
Fashion Happening, Gallery K, Washington, D.C
Fashioned, White Box, New York
Cathedral City, St. Ann's Church, Manchester, UK
Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival, Pusan Metropolitan Art Museum, Pusan, South Korea
Seven Year Itch, Ambrosino Gallery, Miami
Douzième rencontres Video Art Plastique, Centre d'art contemporain de Basse-Normandie, Caen, France
1997
Thread, Christinerose Gallery, New York
Scene from Behind, Sarah Morthland Gallery, New York
Changing Spaces, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia (traveling exhibition)
Angel, Angel, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria; Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
Photography, From the Beginning, or Almost, Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Art/Fashion, Guggenheim SoHo, New York
Fashion Moda, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH
Feminine Image, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY
1997
Ceramics, White Columns, New York New York University Faculty Show, Washington Square East Gallery, New York
Hanging by a Thread, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY
International Istanbul Biennial, Turkey
Art on the Edge of Fashion, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
The Hirshhorn Collects: Recent Acquisitions, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
1996
A Labor of Love, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
Handmade Readymades, Leubsdorf Art Gallery, Hunter College, City University of New York
A Bare Wall!..., Michael Klein Gallery, New York
Black, White and Gray, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Bodyscape, Barbara Gross Galerie, Munich, Germany
Landscape Reclaimed, Aldrich Museum of Art, Ridgefield, CT
Recent Sculpture, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Functionally Challenged, Ubu Gallery, New York
Biennale di Firenze: il tempo e la moda. Florence, Ital
Practicas Transgressivas: Women in Red, Galeria Luis Serpa, Lisbon, Portugal
Container '96: Art Across Oceans, Copenhagen, Denmark L'art au Corps, le corps exposé de Man Ray à nos jours, Mac Galeries contemporaines des Musées de Marseille, Marseille, France
Making Pictures: Women and Photography, 1975 - Now, Nicole Klagsbrun, New York; Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston
Millennium Eve Dress, Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia
1995
Cathy de Monchaux, Byron Kim, Beverly Semmes, Todd Gallery, London
Material Dreams, Takashimaya Gallery, New York
Object Lessons: Feminine Dialogues With the Surreal, Huntington Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston
Blue, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco
Mit sicherem Griff, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Universe of Meaning, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, VT
New York University 1995 Faculty Show, Apex Art, New York
In Three Dimensions: Women Sculptors of the 90s, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY
Fashion Moda, Entwhistle, London
Currents 95: Familiar Places, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
This End Up, University of Wyoming Museum of Art, Laramie, WY (traveling exhibition)
Conceptual Textiles: Material Meanings, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, W
I Blind Spot Exhibition, Soho Arts Festival, New York
1994
Bad Girls, Wight Art Gallery, U.C.L.A., Los Angeles
Bad Girls, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
Bespoke, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
Skulptur, Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer, Düsseldorf, Germany
From Beyond the Pale, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
Written/Spoken/Drawing in Lacanian Ink, Thread Waxing Space, New York
1993
Addressing the Body, Terrain Gallery, San Francisco; Patricia Shea Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Meddlesome and Mettlesome: Selections from the Collection of Robert J. Schiffler, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
American Art Today: Clothing As Metaphor, Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami
Interzone, John Post Lee Gallery, New York
Mapping: An Index of Experience, Germans van Eck Gallery, New York
Contemporary Women Artists and the Issue of Identity: My/Self: Your/Other, Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY
First Sightings, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Three Sculptors, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Yale Collects Yale, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Extravagant: The Economy of Elegance, Russisches Kulturzentrum, Berlin, Germany
Big Girls, Janet Borden Inc., New York
Times: New Art from the USA, Anderson O'Day Gallery, London
Surface Tension, Michael Klein Inc., New York
Fall from Fashion, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
1983
The Rag Trade (Right Off the Rack), InterArt Center, New York
Image Makers, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY
1992
Empty Dress: Clothing as Surrogate in Recent Art, Independent Curators Inc. (traveling exhibition)
Kurswechsel, Michael Klein Inc. at Transart Exhibitions, Cologne, Germany Invitational, Stux Gallery, New York
In Praise of Folly, Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
Patently Missing, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston
Susan Watkins Award Exhibition, New Langton Arts, San Francisco
Photoworks, Michael Klein Inc., New York
Pop Body, Sally Hawkins Gallery, New York
Installations and Constructions, Tavelli Williams Gallery, Aspen, CO
Tennisport Arts Inaugural Exhibition, Tennisport Arts, Long Island City, NY
1991
Plastic Fantastic Lover (Object A), Blum Helman Warehouse, New York
Emerging Sculptors, Sculpture Center, New York
Ornament, John Post Lee Gallery, New York
1990
Drawings, Althea Viafora Gallery, New York
1989
Eccentric Natures, Art Awareness Gallery, Lexington, NY
Public Collections
Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
The Capital Group, Los Angeles, CA
Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, The Netherlands
Denver Art Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
JP Morgan Chase, New York
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art
Musée Dole, France
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
Microsoft Corporation
Progressive Corporation (commission)
The Refco Collection
Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York