Eric Tillinghast

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A person sits alone at the narrow edge of a large, angular swimming pool designed by Eric Tillinghast. The stark, white background creates a minimalist and serene atmosphere, emphasizing the solitary figure and geometric shapes that echo his signature style.
A lone individual sits at the edge of an angular, blue swimming pool, dipping their feet in the water. The minimalist and white surrounding area, reminiscent of an Eric Tillinghast artwork, emphasizes the calm and solitude of the scene. The person's relaxed posture suggests a moment of quiet reflection.
A child sits on the edge of a diving board at a swimming pool, poised above the water. The pool is mostly empty with no other people visible, and the background is completely white. This minimalist scene could be straight out of an Eric Tillinghast artwork.
A lone swimmer sits on the edge of a large, mostly empty swimming pool, with clear water and lane markings. The vast white background emphasizes the solitary figure and serene atmosphere, reminiscent of an Eric Tillinghast art piece.
A swimming pool scene with a diving board in the foreground leads into the pool. The water reflects nearby buildings, and the pool has a metal ladder at the far end. Eric Tillinghast's influence is evident in the bright, empty white background surrounding the pool area.
A partially filled swimming pool with clear water reminiscent of an Eric Tillinghast piece is visible against a completely white background. The pool has a metal ladder on one side and its edges are tiled. The image focuses on the pool, with little else in the scene.
A sparsely depicted scene of an empty, minimalistic swimming pool with a clear blue surface, reminiscent of Eric Tillinghast's work. A diving board extends over the pool's edge on the left side. The background is a blank white canvas, enhancing the pool's reflection and emphasizing its serene atmosphere.
A minimalist art postcard featuring a tiny figure walking towards a large, teal-colored, oval cutout on a plain white background.
A woman in a bikini sits by the edge of a clean, still pool of water. The background is a stark white, giving the scene a minimalist feel.
A solitary person sits on the edge of a rectangular swimming pool filled with clear blue water. The background is completely white, creating a minimalist and serene atmosphere.
A grid of twenty black-framed artworks by Eric Tillinghast, each displaying a white background with a single black circle. The circles vary in size and thickness, from small and thin to large and bold. The arrangement forms a visually striking, minimalist pattern.

Eric Tillinghast

Born: 1974, Los Angeles, CA

Biography and Information

Biography
Eric TiIllinghast collects vintage postcards of swimming pools and other waterways and re-contextualizes them by painting surrounding environments with Titanium white acrylic paint and a minuscule paintbrush. Up to 100 layers of paint are applied to achieve the pristine surface.  These paintings explore the concept of water being a fluid element isolated in geometric shapes.  This project also focuses on our various relationships with water, namely how we think about water, and its ever present inclusion in mythology and culture.

Recently Tillinghast has created two fountain installations for the Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. His work has been exhibited at prestigious museums around the world including The Galerie der Stadt Mainz Bruckenturm in Mainz, Germany, Rocket in London, P.S. in Amsterdam, and The Center For Contemporary Non-Objective Art in Brussels. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Albright-Knox Gallery, the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Wisconsin, the Museum of Fine Art in Santa Fe,  Portland State University, and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona among others. Tillinghast currently lives and works in California.

I have been working with water as a sculptural material since 1994. This has resulted in an ongoing series of sculptures, installations, and projects in which it is the primary subject and medium. These works have occurred as formal and reductive sculptures as well as site-specific installations, and they are now beginning to explore the forms of water in both natural and urban environments. Watersheds and rivers, lakes and dams, canal systems, rainfall, puddles, pools, and drains, have all served as subjects for recent works. My primary interests are in our perceptions of water as a natural element and resource, and creating an experience that examines those perceptions.
-Eric Tillinghast

Education|
2009
BFA The College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM

1991
Diploma of Fine Arts, Virginska Konst Skolan, Orebro, Sweden

Solo Exhibitions
2018
Þ y n g d a r l j ó ð   –   Gravity’s Poetry, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2014
Life is Beautiful Festival: Slidewalk, Las Vegas, NV

2013
Water/Nymph, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Fountains, Piante Gallery, Eureka, CA

2012
Eric Tillinghast: Rain Machine, The Galleries For Contemporary Art UCCS, Colorado Springs, CO

2010 
Eric Tillinghast: Rain Machine, The Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Eric Tillinghast: Water, LAUNCHPROJECTS, Santa Fe, NM

2009
Eric Tillinghast: Empires, The Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art, Brussels, BE

2007
Eric Tillinghast: Colored Panels, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2000
Eric Tillinghast, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

1998
Eric Tillinghast, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM 

Group Exhibitions
2023 
Manjari Sharma and Eric Tillinghast at Bishops Lodge, Bishops Lodge Auberge Resort, Santa Fe, NM

2020
Minimum Space, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Asheville, NC

2019
to the moon and back, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2017
The Beginning of Everything,  Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Syning, Listhus Artspace, Olafsfjordur, Iceland

2016
poolsandplaces, SCAPE, Newport Beach, CA

2015
Miniature: Small Contemporary Works, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY

2014
Life is Beautiful Festival: Slidewalk, Las Vegas, NV

2013
Life is Beautiful Festival: Sump Lux Fountain, Las Vegas, NV

2011
Influential Element, The Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA

2010
Art on the Edge, The New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Thirty Years of Collecting, The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ

2008
The Natalie and Irving Forman Collection, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Vertical Multichrome: A 1for the Arts Commission, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Merger, Rocket, London, U.K.

2007
Dispersion, CinemaLand, Los Angeles, CA

2006
Painted Objects, The Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art, Brussels, BE
Compilation, Rocket, London, U.K.

2005
Painted Objects, PS, Amsterdam, NL
The Natalie and Irving Forman Collection, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Eric Tillinghast/Elliot Norquist, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2004
Circles and Stones, Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, CO
The Zen of Materiality, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2003
Circular, Rocket, London, U.K.
Explorations, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2002
Licht / Wasser, Galerie der Stadt Mainz Brckenturm, Mainz, Germany
Santa Fe On Site: Vancouver, Canada, Buschlen Mowatt, Vancouver, BC
Match the Couch, Art And Industry, Santa Fe, NM

2001
Organizing the World: Sculptural Interventions, The Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Centre Est-Nord-Est, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
Erika Blumenfeld / Eric Tillinghast, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2000
A Glimpse: Landscape, The Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Fair and Square, The Governor’s Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1999
New Mexico 2000, The Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

1998
Monothon, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
Summer Sculpture Exhibit, Ashley Pond, Los Alamos, NM

1997
Jacona River Walk, Sakonaenwikeji Pueblo, Pojoaque, NM
Agua Vida, The Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM

1996
Litany, The Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM

Collections
Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
City of Cleveland Public Art, Cleveland, OH
Discovery Children’s Museum, Las Vegas, NV
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
Kohler Company, Kohler, WI
Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Port of San Diego, San Diego, CA
Portland State University, Portland, OR
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ
University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY

Awards
2017
Listhus Artspace, Olafsfjordur, Iceland, Artist in Residence

2010
Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Robert M. Murdock Emerging Artist Grant

2009
Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Individual Artist Grant

2005
Alafoss, Reykjavk, Iceland, Artist in Residence

2003
Kohler Co. Arts/Industry Program, Kohler, WI, Artist in Residence

2002
Kultursministerium, Land Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, Exhibition Grant

2001
Centre Est-Nord-Est, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, Artist in Residence

1999
The Degolyer Fund Individual Artist Grant, Dallas Museum of Art

1998
Individual Artist Grant, CHANGE Inc.

1996
Donald Lipski – Studio Workshop, The Institute of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM

1994
Summer Workshops: Vito Acconci / Ursula von Rydingsvard, Humbolt State University, CA

Press
2022
Karl Cole, Contemplating Water, SchoolArts Magazine, September

2021
Lauren Step, The Art of Staying Inside the Box, Asheville Made, March 2

2018
Nancy Zastudil, REVIEW Eric Tillinghast: Þ y n g d a r l j ó ð – Gravity’s Poetry, THE Magazine, June 28

2016
Federico Uribe, Eric Tillinghast, The Woven Tale Press, Vol. IV #3, p. 53-56

2015
JK Russ,  Visual Art is Vibrant at LIB Festival, The Huffington Post, January 12

2014
Jake Davidson & Kate Russell, Second Site: The art tastes behind a contemporary art museum’s board, Trend Magazine, Fall 2014/Winter/Spring 2015, image p. 70
Kristen Peterson, What’s With the Giant Slides? Artists Take Over Western Hotel at Life is Beautiful, The Las Vegas Weekly, October 23

2013
Kristen Peterson, Sump Lux Fountain, The Las Vegas Weekly, October 24
Wesley Pulkka, Multimedia work with water, Venue, Albuquerque Journal, August 25
Diane Armitage, Eric Tillinghast: Water/Nymph, THE Magazine, September (Cover and Review)
Claude Smith, Eric Tillinghast: Water/Nymph at Richard Levy Gallery, New American Paintings Blog, August 12
Arts Calendar, Local IQ, August 15-18, p. 34

2011
Marilyn Stewart, Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, SchoolArts Magazine, October
Kyle MacMillan, Abstraction’s Shifting Edge, The Denver Post, May 19

2010
Jan Ernst Adlmann, Eric Tillinghast at LAUNCHPROJECTS and CCA, Art in America, September
Harmony Hammond, Ripples for Reflection, The Albuquerque Journal,May 14
Alex Ross, Eric Tillinghast at LAUNCHPROJECTS, Visual Arts Source, April 30
Diane Armitage, Art on The Edge, THE Magazine, May
Rob Dewalt, Blurred Edges, The New Mexican PasaTiempo, April 16
Kathleen Roberts, On The Edge, The Albuquerque Journal, April 16
Laura Addison, Art On The Edge, (Exhibition Catalogue) New Mexico Museum of Art

2008
Anna Kaplan & Lilly Wei, The Natalie and Irving Forman Collection (Book), Albright Knox Gallery

2007
Jan E. Adlmann, Eric Tillinghast: Colored Panels, THE Magazine, June
Hollis Walker, Loaded Minimalism,The Albuquerque Journal, May 11
Kate McGraw, Color Constructions, The Albuquerque Journal, May 4

2005
Karen Spaulding, The Natalie and Irving Forman Collection (Book), Albright Knox Gallery

2004
Roy Sonema, Less is More, The Pueblo Chieftan, December 2
Natalie LaFortune, Automne 2001, Memento 3 ΠResidences au Centre Est-Nord-Est
Sarah Deats, Eric Tillinghast at Kohler, Charlotte Jackson Gallery News (Spring)

2003
David Clemmer, Licht/Wasser (Exhibition Catalogue), Galerie der Stadt Mainz, Germany

2002
Mokha Laget, Lighter Mass, The Reporter, January 30
Diane Armitage, Organizing The World: Sculptural Interventions, THE Magazine, April

2001
Jon Carver, Plumbing The Depths of Space, TREND Magazine, December
Mojca Osojnik, Se enkrat v santafejevski turizem, Nedelo Slovenia, July 29
Diane Armitage, Erika Blumenfeld / Eric Tillinghast, THE Magazine, June

2000
Dottie Indyke, Southwestern Sizzle, ArtNews, May
Laurel Gitlen, Eric Tilllinghast, THE Magazine, July
Dennis Jarrett, Casual Water, The Reporter, June 7

1999
NM 2000 (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
1998 Sally Eauclaire, City Focus: Santa Fe, ArtNews, May

1996
Lis Bensley, City Focus; Santa Fe, Artnews, June

Press Release
2023 Manjari Sharma and Eric Tillinghast at Bishops Lodge, presented by Richard Levy Gallery and Bobby Beal Presents…

2019 to the moon and back at Richard Levy Gallery

2018  Þ y n g d a r l j ó ð – Gravity’s Poetry at Richard Levy Gallery

2013  Water/Nymph at Richard Levy Gallery