Amanda Means
Tim Atkinson
Amanda Means
‘Her transformation of ordinary household objects into sublime minimal art can be seen not only in the light bulb series, but also in the black and white prints of water glasses...Sweaty, broken and scratched vessels monumentally fill the frame, revealing the beauty in the everyday.’
- Scott Hall
Amanda Means is an American artist and photographer and became known for her cameraless paintings and her experimental darkroom work with leaves and flowers and for her special black and white photographs of simple, everyday objects such as light bulbs and water glasses.
In her work, she is interested in the effect of objects that glow from within. It is not the light on the object shown, but the creation of light from within the object that is a concern of her photographic series.
Means has worked with her unique black and white print technique for artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Roni Horn and the Smithsonian Institution. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography in 2017 and has taught at various universities and art schools.
Amanda Means was born in Marion, New York in 1945. She lives and works in Beacon, New York.
1976 art studies in New York City, where she was influenced by the painting of Abstract Expressionism.
EXHIBITIONS
2025Munich Highlights International Art Fair, Galerie Commeter;
Photo London, Galerie Commeter;
“Glass + Light”, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco;
Art Karlsruhe, Galerie Commeter
2024“Bright Days Ahead”, Galerie Commeter, Hamburg;
“Solopresentation”, Unseen. Amsterdam, The Merchant House
2023“Light in Its Own Language”, The Merchant House, Amsterdam;
“Ultimate”, Phillips London;
“Documentary / Anti-Graphic: A Surrealist Eye on Photographs”, Philadelphia Museum of Art
2022“Amanda Means and Jaanika Peerna”, New York Estonian House;
“Mother Earth: Nature, Nurture & Fertility”, Bull Farm 1856, Rock Tavern, New York
2021“Light Years: A Retrospective”, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Art Gallery, New Bedford
2020“Ultimate”, Phillips London;
“Wild Things: Disrupting the Photographic Archive”, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo
2019“Ultimate”, Phillips London;
“View Find 8”, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond
2018“The Extended Moment”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa;
“Singular Repetitions”, Art Gallery University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, New Bedford;
“FOLDED, REFOLDED CRUSHED CRACKED”, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston
2017“View Find: Photography”, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond;
“Black and White”, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo;
“Women in Colour”, Rubber Factory, New York
2016“Chemistry – Explorations in Abstract Photography”, Garrison Art Center, New York
2015“It´s a long way to Tipperary”, Gallery 339, Philadelphia;
“Biophilia”, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo
2014“Chem 101”, The Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut Art School, Storrs;
“In Focus”, Flynn Gallery, Greenwich
2013“Glass + Light”, Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla
2011“Glass + Light”, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville;
“Amanda Means”, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston
2010“Amanda Means”, Atea Ring Gallery, Westport
-2007-Polaroid-61-x-50-8-cm-%C2%A9-and-courtesy-Persiehl-Heine.png?x=1024&y=1024 "Amanda Means, Light Bulb (F2LB08), 2007, Polaroid, 61 x 50,8 cm. © and courtesy Persiehl & Heine")
“Light Bulb (F2LB08)” 2007, Polaroid, 24 x 20 in, AM/F 0052
-2007-Polaroid-61-x-50-8-cm-%C2%A9-and-courtesy-Persiehl-Heine.png?x=1024&y=1024 "Amanda Means, Light Bulb (14284), 2007, Polaroid, 61 x 50,8 cm. © and courtesy Persiehl & Heine")
“Light Bulb (14284)” 2007, Polaroid, 24 x 20 in, AM/F 0053
“Light Bulb (14307)” 2007, Polaroid, 24 x 20 in, AM/F 0054
-2003-Polaroid-61-x-50-8-cm-%C2%A9-and-courtesy-Persiehl-Heine.png?x=1024&y=1024 "Amanda Means, Light Bulb (14314), 2003, Polaroid, 61 x 50,8 cm. © and courtesy Persiehl & Heine")
“Light Bulb (14314)” 2003, Polaroid, 24 x 20 in, AM/F 0055
“Water Glass 70” 2023, Silver gelatin print on baryta paper, 24 x 20 in, AM/F 1, edition of 20
“Water Glass 72” 2023, Silver gelatin print on baryta paper, 24 x 20 in, AM/F 2, edition of 20
“Water Glass 89” 2023, Silver gelatin print on baryta paper, 34 x 28 in, AM/F 3, edition of 10
“Water Glass 93” 2023, Silver gelatin print on baryta paper, 34 x 28 in, AM/F 4, edition of 10
“Water Glass 62” 2023, Silver gelatin print on baryta paper, 48 x 40 in, AM/F 5, edition of 5
“Water Glass 64” 2023, Silver gelatin print on baryta paper, 48 x 40 in, AM/F 6, edition of 5
“Light Bulb 4” 2004, Silver gelatin print on baryta paper, 24 x 20 in, AM/F 11, edition of 20
