Polly Apfelbaum

Polly Apfelbaum was born in 1955 in Abington, Pennsylvania. In 1978 she graduated from the Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Apfelbaum has exhibited internationally since her first solo show in New York City in 1986.

Apfelbaum has had solo exhibitions in numerous institutions such as Kemper Museum, Kansas City (2019, 2003); Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2018); Belvedere 21, Viennna (2018); Ben Maltz Gallery, OTIS College of Arts and Design, Los Angeles (2016); Be-Part, Waregem (2015); Worcester Art Museum, Worcester (2014); Burlington City Arts, Burlington (2014); Lumber Room, Portland (2014); Carlow Visual Center for Contemporary Art, Carlow (2009); Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes (2009); Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (2004); Massachusetts College of Art, Boston (2003); Kiasma, Helsinki (1998) and Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2003).

Apfelbaum has been honored with a number of grants, in 2019 she was recognized with a Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Grant, and a Creative Capital Award.

Her works are held in prestigious collections including Belvedere 21, Vienna; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Magasin III Museum for Contemporary Art, Stockholm; Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Perez Museum, Miami; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven.

Portrait: Nicole Eisenman, Apfelbaum, 2019.
Paper pulp drawing. Paper dimensions: 77.5 x 57.1 cm.
Courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery.