Tamar Ettun (she/they) creates immersive textile installations, sculptures, drawings, videos, and performances that reflect on somatic empathy – the process of responding to others through sensory-based, embodied experiences – in relation to trauma-healing and ritual. She has exhibited and performed at The Walker Art Center, The Shelburne Museum, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, The Chinati Foundation, Pioneer Works, The Watermill Center, Art Omi Sculpture Garden, PERFORMA, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Sculpture Center.
Ettun is the recipient of awards and fellowships from The Pollock Krasner Foundation, Interlude Artist Residency, Windgate Fellowship, The California Studio Manetti-Shrem Artist Residencies at UC Davis, BAX (Brooklyn Arts Exchange), Fountainhead, Moca Tucson, Stoneleaf Retreat, MacDowell Fellowship, Franklin Furnace, Iaspis, Art Production Fund, Abrons Art Center and RECESS among others.
Amongst other long term projects, Ettun’s multidisciplinary work Lilit the Empathic Demon has since 2020 explored the insidious side of empathy, empathy fatigue, trauma-healing modalities, and astrology as storytelling through text messages to a growing community.
Ettun's newest monumental sculpture, Purple Placenta, is currently featured in the Ford Foundation's exhibition Catando Bajito: Incantations, which explores forms of resistance in the wake of widespread violations of bodily autonomy and gender-based violence.
She holds an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University.
Read more about demons and mothering in this Art21 interview with Jurrell Lewis, and in Demon Bloomsongs: Tamar Ettun’s Vivid Somatics by Elisabeth Workman published by The Walker Art Center
︎ @tamarettun
︎ tamarettun@gmail.com
To book an astrology session, email me! 🔮️
CV
Contact:
tamarettun@gmail.com
Education
2010 MFA Yale University School of Art, Sculpture, CT
2008 BFA Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Fine Art, Jerusalem, Israel
2007 BFA The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Fine Art, New York, NY
Selected Residencies
2023 Casa el Framboyán, Merida, Mexico
2023 Interlude Artist Residency
2022 Brooklyn Arts Exchange
2022 Stoneleaf Retreat
2022 Windgate Artist in Residence, SUNY Purchase College
2021 The California Studio, Manetti-Shrem Artist Residencies at UC Davis
2020 The Chinati Foundation
2020 The Watermill Center Research Retreat
2019 Museum of Contemporary Art at Tucson Artist Residency
2019 Stoneleaf Artist Retreat and Residency
2019 Pioneer Works Production Residency
2018 Marble House Project
2018 Caldera Arts Center
2016 Iaspis, Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Sweden
2015-6 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Workspace Residency
2015 Fountainhead Residency
2014/5 The Watermill Center
2014 Triangle Arts Association Residency
2014 MacDowell Fellowship
2013-4 Abron’s Art Center AIRSpace Residency
2013 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Swing Space Residency
2012 Socrates Sculpture Park Residency and Exhibition
2012 Triangle Artist Workshop Residency
2011 RECESS Activities, New York
Solo Exhibitions and Performances
2024 Lilit’s Umbilical Cord, (site-specific installation), New York Art Book Fair presented by Printed Matter and Dreamsong, Dia Art Foundation
2023 Lilit, (outdoor installation and performance), The Armory Show Off-site at Bella Abzug Park, presented by Dreamsong, New York
2023 SUMMON, Dreamsong Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2023 Texts from Lilit, Demon Game Show (performance), Printed Matter, New York
2022 How to Trap a Demon, curated by Meghana Karnik, Richard and Dolly Mass Gallery at Purchase College, New York
2020 Lilit, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas
2019 Dead Sea (performance installation), curated by David Everritt Howe, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn
2019 Jubilation Inflation, curated by Sarah Cunningham, Pace University Gallery, New York
2018 Jubilation Inflation, curated by Alisha Kerlin, The Barrick Museum of Art, University of Nevada, NV
2017 Eat a Pink Owl, Fridman Gallery, New York City
2017 Mauve Bird with Yellow Teeth Red Feathers Green Feet and a Rose Belly, Part: PINK (performance), The Battery Park and Katonah Museum of Art, New York
2016 The Yellow Who Wants, curated by Rebecka Wigh Abrahamsson, Uppsala Art Museum, Uppsala, Sweden
2016 Mauve Bird with Yellow Teeth Red Feathers Green Feet and a Rose Belly, Part: YELLOW (performance), Bryant Park, New York and Uppsala Botanical Garden, Sweden
2015 Alula in Blue, Fridman Gallery, New York
2015 Mauve Bird with Yellow Teeth Red Feathers Green Feet and a Rose Belly, Part: BLUE (performance), The Watermill Center, Long Island, NY, and The Knockdown Center, Queens
2015 Pre-Midnight, (performance) Tamar Ettun and Molly Lowe, curated by Adi Puterman, Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York
2014 My Hands are the Shape Of My Height, curated by Victoria Reis, Transformer, Washington, DC
2014 One and One, One and Two, One and Three, One and Four, curated by Adi Gura, Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
2013 The Lion Who Liked Strawberries, Art Production Fund, PS3, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, NV
2013 One Thing Leads to Another, (performance) The Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis
2011 One Thing Leads to Another: Part 2, Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York
2011 One Thing Leads to Another, (performance) PERFORMA 11, presented by RECESS, New York
2009 Empty is Also, (performance) in collaboration with Emily Coates, Commissioned by RoseLee Goldberg, PERFORMA 09, X-initiative, New York
2009 Post Traumatic Trance Dance Disorder (performance), curated by Sergio Edelstein, Center of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
Selected Group Exhibitions and Performances
2024 Catando Bajito: Incantations, The Ford Foundation, curated by Roxana Fabius, Kobe Ko, and Beya Othmani, New York, NY
2024 Christmas in July, Curated by Wells Chandler, ANDREW RAFACZ Gallery at NADA East, New York, NY
2023 Plant Teachers, First Free Saturdays, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, ME
2023 Lilit, NADA House, presented by Dreamsong, New York
2023 Interior Resonance: 10th Anniversary Show, curated by Regine Basha, Fridman Gallery, New York
2023 Pop Up: Inflatable Sculpture, curated by Carolyn Bauer, Shelburne Museum, Vermont
2023 How to Trap a Demon (performance), Pioneer Works, New York
2022 Lilit the Empathic Demon, curated by Ava Locks, The Watermill Center, New York
2022 Upstate Art Weekend, curated by Helen Toomer, Stoneleaf Retreat, New York
2021 Though We Dance, curated by Hyejung Jang and Sunmi Yong, Cosmo40, Seoul, Korea
2021 Cut Ups, Essex Flowers, New York
2021 Patterns of Patience, Curated by Omar Lopez-Chahoud, Marc Straus Gallery, New York
2021 A Glitter at Sea, curated by Rebecca Heidenberg, Dreamsong Gallery, Minneapolis, ME
2021 Speech Act, curated by Gali Greenspan, Fosdick-Nelson Gallery at Alfred University, New York
2021 The Moving Company and Friends, (performance), organized in collaboration with Rebecca Pristoop and Laura Bernstein, Essex Flowers Gallery, New York
2020 All At Once, curated by Regine Basha, Fridman Gallery, New York
2020 Private View, curated by Naomi Lev, Rebecca Pristoop and Sara Crown, Collective View
2019 The Fourth Iteration, ZUMU-The Mobile Museum, Kiryat Hayim, curated by Ruth Oppenheim, IL
2019 Summer solstice, (performance) Socrates Sculpture Park, New York
2019 Rosy Fingered Dawn, Pace University Gallery, Curated by Jacob Rhodes & Jen Schwarting, New York
2019 AXxoN N.: A Collective Commentary on David Lynch’s Inland Empire, Essex Flowers, Organized by Jonathan Ehrenberg and Sean McCarthy, New York
2018 The Fields, curated by Nicole Hayes, Art Omi (outdoor sculpture) New York
2017, -18 The Moving Company at Teen Night, The Brooklyn Museum, New York
2017 It’s Happening: 50 Years of Public Art, (performance) NYC Park Department, Central Park, New York
2017 The Dreamers (performance), curated by Ruth Patir, Danspace, New York
2016 Co-Lab projects, curated by Russell Etchen, Texas
2015 In Practice, Sculpture Center, Curated by Olga Dekalo, New York
2015 TRILATERATION, Diana Lowenstein Gallery, curated by Ombretta Argo, Miami
2015 Illegal Souvenirs, Curated by Annesofie Sandal, Field Projects Gallery, New York
2014 Summer Monday, Curated by Amanda Parmer, e-flux, New York
2014 Last Day of Folly, Madison Square Park, New York
2014 AIR SPACE, Abron’s Art Center, New York
2014 Still Acts, Curated by Ian Daniel and Sara Reisman, La MaMa La Galleria, New York
2013 We Live With Animals, Van Alen Institution, PERFORMA 13, New York
2013 Goods, Bat Yam Museum, Bat Yam, Israel
2012 Socrates Sculpture Park: EAF 12, New York
2012 Summer Solstice, Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York
2012 Trees, Art and Jewish Thought, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco
2011 Odyssey Of Iksa, The Herzelia Biennale, ARTLV, Curated by Ory Dassou, Israel
2010 Handheld History, Queens Museum of Art, Video summit, New York
2009 Reinventing Rituals, Rite Now: Sacred and Secular in Video, The Jewish Museum, New York
2008 No-Nonsense – VideoZone, curated by Antonio Geusa and Dalia Levin, Herzelia Museum of Contemporary Art
Awards and Fellowships
2021 New York Foundation of the Art, City Artist Corps
2020 Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant
2020 Artis Contemporary grant
2019 Puffin Foundation Grant
2018 Brooklyn Art Council Fund
2016 Artis Contemporary Exhibition Grant
2015 Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art
2014 The Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant
2013 Art Production Grant and Residency Program
2011/09 Artis Contemporary Art Fund Artist Grant
2010 The Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship, Yale School of Art
2009 The World Performance Project at Yale University
Bibliography and Publications
Vogel, Wendy. Text about Tamar Ettun. In Great Women Sculptors, edited by Maia Murphy. Phaidon Press, 2024.
Lewis, Jurrell. "In the Studio with Tamar Ettun." Art21, 2024
Amin, Lakshmi Rivera. "Palestine Solidarity Shines at the New York Art Book Fair." Hyperallergic, 2024.
Ettun, Tamar. How to Trap/Release a Demon. Artist book designed by Dog Eye Press, published by Dreamsong, 2024
Workman, Elisabeth. "Demon Bloomsongs: Tamar Ettun’s Vivid Somatics." MN Artists, The Walker Art Center, 2023.
Bennet, Nick. “Tamar Ettun’s Texts from Lilit.” Brooklyn Rail, 2023.
Fontaine, Pearl. "Tamar Ettun Demonstrates How to Trap a Demon.” White Wall Magazine, 2022
Donahue, Katy. "Trapping Demons with Tamar Ettun and Lilit." White Wall Magazine, 2021.
Chinati Foundation Newsletter, Volume 25, 2020
Granta Magazine (Hebrew), 2020.
Brara, Noor. "‘This Is a Revolution’: 18 Artists From Coast to Coast Share What They Saw and Felt at the George Floyd Protests." Artnet, 2020
Greenspan, Gali. Interview with Tamar Ettun. 1280° Magazine for Material Culture (Hebrew), 2020
Cascone, Sarah. “Editors’ Picks: 19 Things Not to Miss in New York’s Art World This Week.” Artnet, 2019
Miller, Nicole. "Tamar Ettun: Jubilation Inflation." Brooklyn Rail, 2018
Donahue, Andreana. Interview with Tamar Ettun. Settlers and Nomads, 2018
Cain, Abigail. Artsy, 2018
Crown, Sarah. Wall Street Journal, 2017
Dunne, Carey. Hyperallergic, 2017
Lindsay, Taylor. VICE, 2017
Vogell, Wendy, and Barry Schwabsky. Eat a Pink Owl. Catalog published by Fridman Gallery, 2017.
Ainley, Nate. "The Inflatable World of Tamar Ettun." VICE, 2016.
Laster, Paul. The Observer, 2016
Dekalo, Olga. Catalog essay. Published by Sculpture Center, 2016
Abrahamsson, Rebecka Wigh, and Ulrika Carlsson. The Yellow Who Wants. Catalog published by Uppsala Museum,2016
Murkett, Sarah. Interview with Tamar Ettun. The Huffington Post, 2015
Corwin, William. Art Critical, 2015
Kurchanova, Natasha. Studio International, 2015
Piejko, Jennifer. Modern Painters, 2015
Lev, Naomi. Interview with Tamar Ettun. Bomb Magazine, 2015
Madoff, Steven Henry, Claire Barliant, and Natasha Marie Lorenz. Alula in Blue. Catalog published by Fridman Gallery, 2015.
Jenkins, Mark. The Washington Post, 2014
Larkin, Daniel. Hyperallergic, 2014
Guiducci, Mark. Vogue, 2014
Art Forum Video, 2014/9
Goldberg, RoseLee. Performa 11: Staging Ideas, 2012
Sheets, Hilarie M. The New York Times, 2011
Duray, Dan. The Observer, 2011
Goldenberg, Roselee, ed. Performa 09, Back to Futurism, 2010
Alemani, Cecilia, ed. The X Initiative Yearbook. Milan: Mousse, 2010
Smith, Roberta. New York Times, 2009
Saltz, Jerry. New York Magazine, 2009
Curatorial Projects
2021 Guardian, Ester Partegas and Claire Watson, Curated in collaboration with Antonia Kuo, Essex Flowers Gallery, New York, NY
2020-2021 The Moving Company and Friends, seasonal performance program, Essex Flowers Gallery. In collaboration with Rebecca Pristoop and Laura Bernstein
2018-2019 Video Program for Jubilation Inflation, The Barrick Museum at the University of Las Vegas, & Pace University Gallery, works by Alika Cooper, Cheryl Donegan, Trulee Hall, Joan Jonas, and Jen Liu