Born 1973 in New York
Lives and works in Glasgow
Education
2000
MFA (Fine Arts), Glasgow School of Art
1995 BA with Honours, Brown University, Providence, RI
* denotes publication
‡ denotes permanent installation
Solo Exhibitions
– 2027
Ilana Halperin, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden
– 2026
What is Us and What is Earth, Fruitmarket, Edinburgh*
Ilana Halperin: The Nomadic Library, Nohga Hotel Kiyomizu, Kyoto
– 2025
An Anatomy of Mars, LÁ Art Museum, Hveragedi, Iceland
– 2024
Ilana Halperin, Nohga Hotel Kiyomizu, Kyoto
– 2023
Minerals of New York, Patricia Fleming Gallery/NADA House, Governors Island, New York
– 2022
Chaos Terrain, University of St Andrews†
Ma Famille Poudingue, Cairn Centre d’art, Digne-les-bains*
– 2021
There is a Volcano Behind My House, Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute
– 2020
Excerpts from the Library, Patricia Fleming Gallery, Glasgow
– 2019
Minerals of New York (curated by Dominic Paterson), The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
Minerals of New York (curated by Catriona McAra), Leeds Arts University
The Rock Cycle (Yamaguchi) (curated by Naoko Mabon), Akiyoshidai Natural History Museum; Akiyoshidai International Artist Village; Karstar Geopark Centre, Yamaguchi
– 2017
The Library of Earth Anatomy, The Exploratorium, San Francisco‡
Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana) (curated by Naoko Mabon), Fujiya Gallery Hanayamomo, Beppu; Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen; Patricia Fleming Gallery, Glasgow*
– 2014
Learning to Read Rocks (part of GENERATION: 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland, An Tobar, Isle of Mull*
The Hall of Rocks and Minerals, Shrewsbury Museum†
Autobiographical Trace Fossils, Patricia Fleming Gallery, Glasgow
– 2013
The Library (curated by Bryony Bond), National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh
Geologic Intimacy, Print Space, Dundee Contemporary Arts
– 2012
Steine, Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité, Berlin*
Hand Held Lava, Schering Stiftung Project Space, Berlin*
We Form Geology, Travelling Gallery, Scotland
– 2008
Physical Geology (part one), Manchester Museum
– 2007
Towards Heilprin Land, doggerfisher, Edinburgh
– 2005
Nomadic Landmass, doggerfisher, Edinburgh
– 2004
Dromocroma, Autori Cambi, Rome
– 2001
The Difficulty of Falling in Love During an Earthquake, Tramway, Glasgow– 1999
Geologic Intimacy, Switchspace, Glasgow
Selected Exhibitions and Commissions
– 2027
Weaving Rivers, Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland
Materia Prima, Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Germany
– 2025
Solastalgie: Spaziergänge durch veränderte Landschaften, Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt
Magma Rising, Heong Gallery, University of Cambridge
Creative Terrains, National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh
– 2024
Organic Circuits, Listasafn Arnesinga, Hveragedi
The Trembling Museum (curated by Manthia Diawara and Terri Geiss), The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
Geologiques: Cabinet des Pierres, Musee Gassendi, Digne-les-bains
– 2023
Hollow Earth: Caves, Art & the Subterranean Imaginary, Nottingham Contemporary; Glucksman, Cork; RAMM, Exeter
Grounded, Kunstraum Hase 29, Osnabrück
A Meeting with Eldfell, Safnahús Vestmannaeyjar*
– 2022
The Rock Cycle (with Yoshihisa Nakano and Keijiro Suzuki, curated by Naoko Mabon), Pier Arts Centre, Orkney*
The Power of Wonder: The New Materialism in Current Art (curated by Markus Heinzelmann), Museum unter Tage, Bochum*
À sa propre allure (curated by Bénédicte Brunet and Hunter Longe), La Grange de Dorigny, University Lausanne
– 2021
Excerpts from the Library: An Audio Field Guide, Glasgow International
– 2020
Crystal Clear (curated by Elena Sorokina), Pera Museum*
– 2018
Cosmogonies (curated by Hélène Guenin), MAMAC Museum of Contemporary Art, Nice*
An Exhibition as a Spell (curated by Caterina Almirall), Can Felipa, Barcelona*
– 2017
4.543 billion: The Matter of Matter (curated by Latitudes), CAPC Museum, Bordeaux
Être pierre (curated by Jessica Castex and Noëlle Chabert), Musée Zadkine, Paris*
This Rare Earth (curated by Karen Verschooren & Ils Huygens, STUK, Leuven*
Between Poles and Tides: New Acquisitions from the University of Edinburgh Art Collection, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
The World Made New (curated by Oliver Sumner), Pi Artworks, London
– 2016
The Forces Behind the Forms (curated by Magdalena Holzhey), Galerie im Taxispalais, Austria; Kunstmuseen Krefeld; Kunstmuseum Thun*
Ripples on the Pond (curated by Katie Bruce), Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
– 2015
Cristallisations (curated by Hélène Guenin/Centre Pompidou Metz), Musée du Cristal Saint-Louis
– 2014
Allegory of the Cave Painting (curated by Mihnea Mircan), Extra City, Antwerp*
– 2013
Piroerotomachia: 8th Biennale Fotografii (curated by Krzysztof Gutfrañski), Galeria Miejska Arsenal, Poznan*
Objective / Subjective (curated by Peter Olson), NIU Art Museum, Dekalb
– 2012
Etendue Muette, Maison des Arts de Grand Quevilly
– 2011
Experimental Station (curated by Virginia Torrente & Andrés Mengs), CA2M, Madrid*
We Make Versions, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
– 2010
Volcano (curated by James Hamilton), Compton Verney, Warwickshire*
Experimental Geography (curated by Nato Thompson/Independent Curators International), The James Gallery, Graduate Center
CUNY, New York, toured to Rochester Art Center, MN; The Albuquerque Museum, NM; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME*
This Matter, The Royal Standard, Liverpool
– 2009
Physical Geology (slow time), (curated by Raimundas Malasauskas), Artists Space, New York*
Running Time: Artist Films in Scotland, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
An Entangled Bank, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
Portscapes (public art commission, curated by Latitudes), SKOR, Rotterdam*
Timecode (curated by Judith Winter and Graham Domke), Dundee Contemporary Arts
Polar Dispatches, Portland Museum of Art, ME*
The Audio Show (curated by Seth Kelly), Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York
– 2008
Estratos (curated by Nicolas Bourriaud), PAC Murcia*
Conspire (curated by Natasa Petresin-Bachelez), House of World Cultures, Berlin
Art Forms From The Ocean, National Glass Centre, Sunderland*
New Scots (curated by Sandy Moffat), Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
– 2007
Still Life: Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change: Sharjah Biennial 8*
Enlightenment: Collecting for the Future, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
It Starts From Here, De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea
Infinite Orogeny (with Adam Putnam), Studio Visconti, Milan
– 2006
Drawing Links, The Drawing Room, London; International 3, Manchester*
How I Finally Accepted Fate (curated by Jason Murison), Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York
Where the Wild Things Are (curated by Anne Marie Watson), Dundee Contemporary Arts
Our House is a House that Moves (curated by Natasa Petresin-Bachelez), Living Art Museum, Reykjavik
– 2005
Art/Sci Research Residency/performance commission, Camden Art Centre, London
– 2002
Art and Mountains (curated by Bruce Haines and Paul Claydon), Alpine Club, London
Into the Abyss (with Adam Putnam), The Kettilhouse, Akureyri
– 2001
Ilana Halperin and Sally Osborn, doggerfisher, Edinburgh
– 2000
New Contemporaries, Milton Keynes Gallery; Cornerhouse, Manchester; Inverleith House, Edinburgh*
A Day Like Any Other (curated by Francis McKee), Stavanger Kulturhus*
– 1999
Story (curated by Pi Li), Assembly Gallery, Glasgow*
Performative Lectures and Talks
– 2025
In-conversation: An Anatomy of Mars, National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh
– 2024
Field notes from Mars, BBC Open Country, Radio 4
Geologic Intimacy/Physical Geology, Open Lecture, Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavik
– 2023
Ilana Halperin: Artist Lecture, Greening Art Practice, Chrysalis Arts, UK.
– 2018
Minerals of New York (as part of Crossing the Line film programme), Lux Scotland at Glasgow Film Theatre
Geologic Intimacy/Physical Geology (part one), Geologics Symposium, Brown University, Providence, RI
– 2016 and 2017
Felt Events (with Raymond MacDonald, The Necks & BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), Tectonics Festival, Glasgow and Fossil Grove, Glasgow International
– 2015
Felt Events, Pavilion Gallery at Leeds Museum; Kunstmuseum Thun
Conversations about Landscape (with Jason Groves), The Exploratorium, San Francisco
– 2014
Physical Geology (a Field Guide), as part of Regarding Dynamic Processes, Hull School of Art
Learning to Read Rocks, as part of Feeling the Anthropocene Symposium, University of Edinburgh
– 2012
Autobiographical Trace Fossils, as part of The Cultural Life of Caves Symposium, Pera Museum, Istanbul
– 2011
Hand Held Lava (with Andrew Patrizio and Karen Holmberg), Triple Canopy, 177 Livingston, Brooklyn; touring to Turner Contemporary, Margate; Cell Project Space, London; Schering Stiftung, Berlin; Atlas Arts, Skye; CCA, Glasgow
– 2010
At What Moment Does Limestone Become Marble: (An Evening Expedition to Kaaterskill Falls), CCS Bard, New York
– 2009
Physical Geology, as part of Terra Mobilis: Fire and Ice Colloquium, Brown University, Providence, RI; Dundee Contemporary Arts
A Brief History of Mobile Landmass (curated by Latitudes), as part of Portscapes, Port of Rotterdam Authority and SKOR
– 2007 and 2008
Towards Heilprin Land, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow; Cendeac, Murcia; Stills as part of Edinburgh Art Festival
Geologic Intimacy, as part of ‘Species of Origin Roundtable’, Edinburgh College of Art
– 2005 and 2006
Ruins in Reverse (Nomadic Landmass), Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria, New York; Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art; Manchester Museum; Camden Arts Centre, London*
Emergent Landmass, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York
– 2003 and 2004
Integrating Catastrophe, Southern Yangtze University, Wuxi; China Academy of Art, Hangzhou
– 2000 and 2002
The Pursuit of Flora and Other Environmental Anecdotes, ISFLS, Aarhus; Arteleku, Donostia; Tramway, Glasgow
– 2001
Nomadic Landmass, CCA Glasgow off-site programme at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
– 1999
Intimate Three Part Fractions (with AJ McCaffrey), CCA, Glasgow
Selected Bibliography
– 2026
Ilana Halperin: What is Us and What is Earth, Elizabeth McLean (ed.), Fruitmarket, Edinburgh
– 2023
A Meeting with Eldfell, I. Halperin, V. Pálsdóttir (eds), StudioStudioStudio, Reykjavik
– 2022
Ilana Halperin: Felt Events, Catriona McAra (ed.), Strange Attractor Press, London
Ilana Halperin: Ma Famille Poudingue, Cairn Centre d’art, Digne-les-bains
Field Work: Photographs by Ilana Halperin, Adam Putnam (ed.), ASMR4 vol.9, New York
The Power of Wonder: The New Materialism in Current Art, Markus Heinzelmann(ed.), DCV Books, Berlin
– 2021
Ilana Halperin: Fossil (VI), Lost Rocks: A Published Event, Hobart
The Rock Cycle Yamaguchi, N. Mabon (ed.), artist publication, Glasgow
Ilana Halperin: Minerals of New York, limited edition artist publication, Flint magazine, Detroit
– 2018
Cosmogonies, Hélène Guenin (ed.), MAMAC, Nice
– 2017
Geologic Intimacy Yu no Hana, N. Mabon (ed.), artist publication, Glasgow
Geology & Literature, Literatur für Leser 16:1, Jason Groves (ed.), Frankfurt
Gerhard Theewen (ed.), Salon 4, April
– 2016
The Forces Behind the Forms, Snoeck, Krefeld
– 2015
Drawing Ambiguity: Beside the Lines of Contemporary Art, IB Tauris, London
Art in the Anthropocene, H. Davis, Open Humanities Press, Ann Arbor, MI
– 2014
GENERATION: 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
– 2013
Earth Works!, S. Cichocki, K. Gutfrañski (eds), Format P #7, Warsaw
– 2012
Making the Geologic Now, E. Ellsworth, J. Kruse (eds), Punctum Books, New York
Ilana Halperin: New Landmass, S. Barnes, A. Patrizio (eds), Schering Stiftung, Berlin
– 2011
Volcano, James Hamilton, Reaktion Books, London
Experimental Station, V. Torrente, A Mengs (eds), CA2M, Madrid
– 2010
Ilana Halperin: Physical Geology, S. Barnes, A. Patrizio (eds), Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité, Berlin
– 2008
Experimental Geography, Nato Thompson, ICI, New York
Estratos, Nicolas Bourriaud (ed.), PAC Murcia
– 2007
Still Life: Art, Ecology & the Politics of Change, Sharjah Biennial 8, Sharjah Art Foundation
– 2006
Drawing Links, text by Andrew Patrizio, Drawing Room, London
– 2005
Nomadic Landmass, File Note, text by Mungo Campbell, Camden Arts Centre, London
Ruins in Reverse, Adam Putnam (ed.), Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria, New York
Ilana Halperin: Ruins in Reverse (Nomadic Landmass), doggerfisher, Edinburgh
Awards
Inaugural Artist Fellow, National Museums Scotland
Creative Scotland Visual Artist Development Bursary
British Council Darwin Now Award
Alchemy Fellowship, Manchester Museum
Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award (Nominee)
Scottish Arts Council Visual Artist Award
Darklights Commission Award, Tramway
Residencies
Artist-in-Residence, Nohga Hotel Kiyomizu, Kyoto
Artist-in-Residence, Kulturhaus Villa Stråuli
Artist-in-Residence, Cairn Centre d’art, UNESCO Geopark of Haute Provence
Artist-in-Residence, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews
Research residency, Mass MoCA, North Adams
Tender International Virtual Residency, A Published Event, Hobart
AIAV International Artist Fellowship, Yamaguchi
Artist-in-Residence, The Exploratorium, San Francisco
Royal Scottish Academy Artist Residency, Cromarty
Platform05 Research Residency, Beppu Projects
Atlas Arts Micro-Residency, The Bothy Project, Isle of Eigg
Esmee Fairbairn Residency, Cove Park, Argyll
Artist-in-Residence, Oceanwide Expeditions/Tiffin Projects, Greenland
Art/Science Research Residency, Camden Arts Centre, London
Artist-in-Residence, Skaftfell Cultural Center, Seydisfjorder,
Artist/fieldwork participant, Earthwatch, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
Makrolab/Arts Catalyst Residency, Perthshire
Network North Residency, NIFCA, Lapland and the Barents Region
Cell Culture Science/Art Residency, Arteleku, San Sebastian
Artist in Residence, The Gilsociety, Akureyri
Collections
Arts Council Collection
Barts Hospital, London
Edinburgh University Art Collection
Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
Government Art Collection
Icelandair
Libeert Collection
Manchester Museum
Musee Gassendi, Digne-les-bains
National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh
Oceanwide Expeditions, Vlissingen
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery
The Exploratorium, San Francisco
The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow
The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen
University of Dundee
University of Stirling
University of St Andrews
Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Private collections