Ellen Sandor

Ellen Sandor is a new media artist, and Founder/Director of the collaborative artists’ group, (art)n. In 1975, she received an MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her MFA studies at SAIC led her to explore the relationship between photography, sculpture, and video art, while being inspired by the spiritual nature of Outsider Art. In the early 1980s, Sandor had the unique vision to integrate these elements with nascent art forms including computer graphics, resulting in a new medium she called PHSColograms–3D barrier-screen computer-generated photographs and sculptures. PHSColograms are the Daguerreotypes of Virtual Reality. Major themes (art)n has explored include breakthroughs in STEM and art, alongside visual history, art history and tolerance. The (art)n group primarily works with PHSColograms as immersive, backlit digital 3D photos, PHSCologram sculpture installations, and related VR experiences.

As PHSColograms and VR are collaborative endeavors, Sandor often works with kindred artists, scientists, technologists and thinkers, affiliated with distinguished institutions and universities including: Fermilab, Stevens Lab, Doudna Lab–University of California-Berkeley, Scripps Research Institute, NASA Ames, Langley and Lewis Research Centers, NASA JPL–California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois. Many collaborators share in her enthusiasm for experimenting with technology to push conceptual and aesthetic boundaries within the arts and sciences. Influential artists and innovators Sandor and (art)n have worked with include: Donna Cox, Martyl, Claudia Hart, Carla Gannis, Chris Landreth, Charles Csuri, Miroslaw Rogala, Dan Sandin, Tom DeFanti, Larry Smarr, Arthur J. Olson, and the late Ed Paschke, Karl Wirsum and Mr. Imagination. Sandor has also collaborated with trailblazing women scientists and technologists who are pathfinders for women in STEM, including Nobel Prize recipient Jennifer Doudna, Beth Stevens, Cynthia K. Thompson, Carolina Cruz-Neira, and others who have contributed to the ‘herstory’ of women in science. She has mentored women in new media to be fearless in their life's work and pursuing their dreams.
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The works of Ellen Sandor and (art)n have been exhibited internationally and are in the permanent collection of The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, International Center of Photography, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Victoria & Albert Museum, Fermilab, Smart Museum of Art–University of Chicago, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art–The University of Oklahoma, Shingoethe Center–Aurora University, and private collections. Recent exhibitions include: LACMA, King’s College, London; Victoria & Albert Museum South Kensington; iLon Gallery, NY; Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL, Shingoethe Center, Aurora University, Aurora, IL; and Galerie Bijon, Arles, France. Commissions include: The Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, The City of Chicago Public Art Program, State of Illinois Art-in-Architecture Program, and SmithBucklin Corporation.

Sandor co-invented U.S. and international patents awarded for the PHSCologram process. She co-authored published papers in Computers & Graphics, IEEE and SPIE. She is a past Visiting Scholar of Culture & Society, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In 2014, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2016, she was awarded Fermilab's Artist in Residence. In 2017, she was honored by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists for her longstanding commitment to integrating art and science. She is co-editor and contributor of the herstory book: New Media Futures: The Rise of Women in the Digital Arts, University of Illinois Press.

Sandor is additionally a Life Trustee Emeritus, The Art Institute of Chicago. She is Secretary of the Board of Eyebeam and is a Board Member of the American Friends Musée d’Orsay et de L'Orangerie; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art; and Asolo Repertory Theatre. In 2012, she received the Thomas R. Leavens Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts through Lawyers for the Creative Arts. In 2013, she received the Gene Siskel Film Center Outstanding Leadership Award as longtime Chair of the Center, from 2001-23. She is also co-founder of the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection.

Learn more:
https://www.artn.com
https://www.visualizinginanewlight.com
https://www.herstory-artn.com
https://www.sandor-collection.com

For a complete, up-dated CV, please contact the artist.

Here is a an excerpt of exhibitions from 2000-2024:

Recent Solo Exhibitions:

Brain + Love +, iLon Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, April 28 – June 25, 2022

Visualizing in a New Light: Ellen Sandor and (art)n, The Art Center, Highland Park, May 2020

Ellen Sandor and (art)n, Galerie Olivier R. Bijon, Arles, France, July 2019

It is Two Minutes to Midnight, Weinberg/Newton Gallery, Chicago, IL, May 11 - May 19, 2018

Neutrinos in a New Light: Selected Works of Art & Science, Fermilab Art Gallery, Batavia, IL, December 2, 2016-March 17, 2017

Deconstruction in the Virtual World: Building Peace by Piece, National Arts Club, Gramercy Park, NY, November 2-14, 2015

(art)n: Virtually Visionary - Exploring 2D Forms in 3D Space, Galeria Arteconsult, Panama, September 15-October 9, 2010

Concepts of Construction: (art)n new work and retrospective, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, October 24–December 12, 2009

Ellen Sandor (art)n : 3D pixels realized 1982–2006, art@IIT, Kemper Room Art Gallery, Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, November 16, 2006–January 20, 2007

Special Treatment, (art)n, Chicago, IL, January 7–8, 2005


(art)n: virtual illusion 1994–2004/pixels in perspective, [DAM], Berlin, Germany, September 21–November 5, 2004

(art)n Virtual Visions: Three Decades of Collaboration, Brunnier Art Museum, Iowa State University, October 29, 2002– January 5, 2003

Selected Works by (art)n, New Center for Art and Technology, September–December 2002

(art)n, Tarble Arts Center, Brainard Art Gallery, Eastern Illinois University, September 2001

Battle of Midway Memorial Commemoration Ceremony, Midway Airport, Chicago, IL, June 4, 2001


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Recent Group Exhibitions:

Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography and Film, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA , November 24, 2024-July 13, 2025

GLOW: Illuminating Innovation, King's College, London, March 8-April 20, 2024

Beyond the Visible, Schingoethe Center, Aurora University, January 29-May 10, 2024

35 Years: 35 Artists, Jean Albano Gallery Chicago, IL, November 10- December 31, 2023

Patric Prince: Digital Art Visionary, V&A South Kensington, UK, September 1, 2023- September 15, 2024

Voices and Visions: Standing on the Bridge Between Health and Disease, The Art Center, Highland Park, IL, May 2022

Pris Chicago Photographies, Galerie Olivier R. Bijon, Arles, France, September 2-October 5, 2019

Roger Brown: Virtual Still Lifes, Museum of Art and Design, New York City, May 2-September 15, 2019

Chicago New Media 1973–1992, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, November 1-December 13, 2018

real-fake.org.2.0, Bronx Art Space, Bronx, NY, November 19, 2016

Women's Empowerment Exhibition, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, NYC, February 3-April 20, 2016

Los esperamos este miercoles at Galeria Arteconsult, Panama, December 14, 2011

The Art of Collecting, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI, November 25, 2011 - January 8, 2012

Without You I'm Nothing: Art and Its Audience, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, November 20, 2010 - May 1, 2011

Bruce Goff: A Creative Mind, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, October 9, 2010 - January 2, 2011

Pathways and Portals: Art, Nature and Science, Illinois State Museum Chicago Gallery and Lockport Gallery, Lockport, IL, August 24, 2010 - February 18, 2011

A Mind at Play, The Art Institute of Chicago, June 14–September 7, 2008 Identities, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, November 27, 2007–August 31, 2008

KARL WIRSUM: WINSOME WORKS(SOME): A retrospective—1960's to the present, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL, April 14–June 27, 2007; Madison Contemporary Art Museum, October 13, 2007–January 6, 2008; Herron Gallery, January 18–March 2, 2008

The Intelligent Design Project III, Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery, Chicago, IL, October 12–November 24, 2007 Intelligent Design, The Museum of New Art, Detroit, MI, September 15–October 13, 2007

Visionary Anatomies, Keck Center Gallery, National Academies, Washington D.C. September 15–December 31, 2004 and the National Academy of Sciences' "Upstairs Gallery," Washington D.C. January 15–May 1, 2005; University of Delaware Museum. September 16–November 26, 2006; Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, December 16, 2006– February 25, 2007; Art League of Long Island, April 7–June 17, 2007; and Art Museum of Western Virginia, August 10– October 28, 2007

No Name Fever traveling exhibition organized by the Museum of World Culture, Göthenberg, Sweden for Red Location Museum, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, December 2007

Ed Paschke: Electronicon, Lewis and Clark College , September 22–October 19, 2007


The Intelligent Design Project III, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL, October 12–November 24, 2007; Intelligent Design, The Museum of New Art , Detroit, MI, September 15–October 13, 2007


Vision 12: The Business of Art, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL, July 13–28, 2007


Notions of Wilderness, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL, June 1–July 28, 2007


KARL WIRSUM: WINSOME WORKS(SOME): A retrospective—1960's to the present , Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago,IL, April 14–June 27, 2007; Madison Contemporary Art Museum , October 13, 2007–January 6, 2008; Herron Gallery, January 18–March 2, 2008

Ed Paschke: A Chicago Icon—A retrospective look at the career of Ed Paschke, Chicago History Museum, Chicago, IL, September 30, 2006–February 19, 2007

Faculty Sabbatical Exhibition, Betty Rymer Gallery, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, October 6– November 3, 2006

BINO & COOL, Galleri Bergman, Stockholm, Sweden, March 18–April 9, 2006

Visionary Anatomies, Keck Center Gallery, National Academies, Washington D.C. September 15–December 31, 2004 and the National Academy of Sciences' "Upstairs Gallery," Washington D.C. January 15–May 1, 2005; University of Delaware Museum. September 16–November 26, 2006; Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, December 16, 2006– February 25, 2007; Art League of Long Island, April 7–June 17, 2007; and Art Museum of Western Virginia, August 10– October 28, 2007
Portrait, Stiftung Starke Gallery, Berlin, Germany, September 23–October 23, 2005

Beyond the X-Ray , Museum of Science, Boston, MA, May 11, 2005–May 1, 2006

Ed Paschke Memorial Exhibition, Maya Polsky Gallery, Chicago, IL, February 4–March 15, 2005

AIDS in the Age of Globalization, Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg, Sweden, December 2004–July 2006

Seasons, Printworks Gallery , Chicago, IL, November 5–December 31, 2004

The Art of Science Imaging the Future: The Intersection of Science, Technology and Photography, International Center of Photography, New York, NY, March 12–May 30, 2004

Art of the Americas, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, March 13–November 21, 2004

Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, January 31–May 2, 2004

Goddesses ex Machina: Techno Art Perspectives, Merlino Gallery, California State University, Long Beach, CA, September 26–October 2, 2003

A Decade of Collecting, The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, March 8–June 15, 2003

Genomic Issue(s): Art and Science, The Graduate Center Art Gallery, City University of New York, New York, NY, February 25–April 5, 2003


How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era, International Center of Photography, New York, February 28–May 25, 2003

PhotoGENEsis: Opus 2: Artists’ Response to the Genetic Information Age, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, November 9, 2002–February 9, 2003

influence CHICAGO influence, A R E N A Gallery, Chicago, September 8–October 14, 2001


Digital: Revolutions in Print Making, Brooklyn Museum of Art, June 22–September 2, 2001


Genomic Art: Portrait of the 21st Century, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, June 18–August 27, 2001

Virtual Architecture, Oskar Friedl Gallery, Chicago, IL, June 15–July 21, 2001
Ehime Prefectural Science Museum, Niihama City, Japan, Summer 2001

Chorus of Light: Photographs from the Sir Elton John Collection, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, November 4, 2000– January 8, 2001

Paris in 3D: From Stereoscopy to Virtual Reality 1850-2000, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France, October 4–December 31, 2000

Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, February 24, 2000

The Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, Chicago, IL, February 11, 2000

Reuben H. Fleet Space Theatre and Science Center, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA, February–April 2000