Elizabeth Withstandley is a research-driven multidisciplinary artist working in video installation, photography, and community-based projects. Originally from Cape Cod, she currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work explores identity, time, and collective experience through layered storytelling and sound. She co-founded Locust Projects in Miami and Prospect Art in Los Angeles.
Withstandley’s work has been exhibited internationally, including in the Smithsonian’s To Be Named exhibition, and in solo presentations at institutions such as the Brookline Arts Center (2025), Antenna Gallery (2022), and the Athens Institute of Contemporary Art (2022). Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions at the Adelaide Festival Centre (2019, Australia), Haus Kunst Mitte (2023, Germany), York Art Gallery (2023, UK), and the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami. She has participated in residencies at the Arctic Circle Residency (2024, Svalbard), Arvo Pärt Center (2023, Estonia), and AIRIE (2021, Everglades National Park). Withstandley has received support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and was a finalist for the Hopper Prize (2020), Reclaim Award (2021), and Fondation François Schneider’s Contemporary Talent Award (2025).
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA - MFA in Photography
PRATT INSTITUTE - BFA in Photography
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 “The State of Being Indivisible ( I want a perfect soul)” Brookline Arts Center, Brookline MA
2022 “Getaway” Antenna Works, New Orleans, LA.
“A Brief History of Happiness” Athens Institute of Contemporary Art, Athens GA.
2020 “Searching for the Miraculous” AC Institute, New York, New York
“The Symphony of Names: No Man Is An Island” In-Sonora 11, Madrid, Spain
“Searching for the Miraculous” VisArts, Rockville, MD.
2018 “The Symphony of Names: No Man Is An Island” Winslow Garage, Los Angeles, CA.
2015 “You Can Not Be Replaced” Dimensions Variable, Miami, FL.
2014 “From Far Away Across the Universe” Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA.
“The Accident” Winslow Garage, Los Angeles, CA.
2003 “Fans part IV (living inside the cosmic egg)” 16mm film Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL.
2002 “Fans part III (the Lee Olds show)” Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL.
1999 “Candy Coated” Locust Projects, Miami, FL.
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
“As it Unfolds” NADA Curated by Fitsum Shebeshe
2024
Platforms, Athens Greece
“Nombrar_” Galería de Arte del Palacio Municipal de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico.
“To Be Named” Gallery Oak Park, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
2023
Nomad II, Torrance, CA.
“To Be Named” Organized by the Smithsonian's Recovering Voices Program and Experimental Humanities Collaborative Network at Bard
Haus Kunst Mitte, Berlin Germany
Opalka Gallery, Albany, NY
Circuits and Currents, Athens, Greece.
“Stratigraphy” Arts Letters & Numbers, New York
Open Mind Art Space, Santa Monica, CA
York Art Gallery, York, England
2022
“Searching for the Miraculous” Curfew Tower, Cushendall, Northern Ireland
VAFT, Video Arts Festival Turku, Finland
Open Mind Art Space, Santa Monica, CA
Fabrica Braco de Prata, Lisbon, Portugal
2021
Reclaim Award, Cologne, Germany
Video Fenster, Cologne, Germany
BBA Currents, BBA Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery, Coastal Carolina University, South Carolina
2020
“Darkest Before Dawn: Art in a Time of Uncertainty”, Ethan Cohen Gallery, New York
BBA Art Prize, BBA Gallery, Berlin Germany
“Sound, Spectacle, and Situation” UMF Art Gallery, Farmington Maine
2019
Adelaide Festival Center, Adelaide, Australia
“http: //www: a birthday celebration” Carnation Contemporary, Portland, OR
2018
“Smoke & Mirrors” Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, California.
“12th Arte Laguna Prize” Venice, Italy
2017
“Spin Cycle” SIM gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland.
4Culture e4C electronic gallery, Seattle WA.
"Attach Files" 50/50 Kansas City, Missouri
Unauthorized SFMOMA show #454, SF MOMA
2016
“RETHink Art Digital Festival”, House of Culture, Rethymno Crete, Greece.
2015
“Celebrity Portraits” Holy Family University Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
“LA Woman” Piece College Art Gallery, Woodland Hills, CA.
"The State of Being Human" Woody Gaddis Gallery, Edmond, OK
2014
"LA Woman" Marrickville Garage, Marrickville, Australia.
2013
“Amorphous” Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
2011
“Chain Letter” Shoshana Wayne Gallery Santa Monica, CA.
2005
"Hello Earthlings!" Renaissance Theater Hollywood, CA.
2002
“Globle>Miami<Island” Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL.
“Miami in Manhattan” Wooster Projects NY, NY.
2001
“Witness....” Fredric Snitzer Gallery project room, Miami, FL .
“Humid” Moore Building, Miami, FL curated by Dominic Molon.
“The Uncanny” Museum of Contemporary Art Miami, Florida.
"Girls on Top" Galerie Valerie Cueto Paris, France.
"Emerging" Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL.
“Platform Pledge” Oficina Cultural Oswald de Andrade, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2000
“Making Art in Miami: Travels in Hyper-Reality” Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL.
“Culture of Class” Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute of the Arts, Baltimore, Maryland.
“Departing Perspectives” curated by Fredric Snitzer, Miami, FL.
“Mount Miami: American Artists in Tel Aviv” The Artists’ Studio Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel.
“To the edge of the page” Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL.
“Young Miami” Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL.
“Home Invasion” Miami, FL.
“Sarasota Biennial” Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
2025
“AI or Game Show Personality? Elizabeth Withstandley’s “The State of Being Indivisible” Toys With Identity in the Digital Age” in The Boston Art Review by Karolina Hac
2024
“Eleven Art Exhibitions to see in Massachusetts This Fall” by Jacquinn Sinclair, September 10, 2024, Boston Art Review.
2023
Making Miami : The Story of an Art Community
“What’s in a Name? Opalka exhibit takes a crack at it” by William Jaeger published in the Times Union on 9/28/2023
Future Now 2023, Aestheticia Magazine
99 Future Blue Chip Artists, Artsted
2022
“Getaway” published by Antenna Gallery February 2022.
2020
Al-Tiba9 Magazine, Original Issue 05, June 2020.
“Searching for the Miraculous (Part 2: The Journey)”, artist book, published by Locust Projects 2020
2019
Locust Projects: The 20th Anniversary Retrospective, by Locust Projects
SOLO Magazine, Issue 1, 2019.
Murze Magazine, issue 8 October/November 2019.
http://www: a birthday celebration, exhibition catalogue Carnation Contemporary
2018
Datebook: Videos of Icelandic journey, denim as movable sculpture and summer film
series, LA Times, August 2018
“Smoke & Mirrors” prompts reflection among viewers with serious themes by Madeleine Powell, La Vista, January 30th 2018
“Smoke and Mirrors” Exhibition Catalogue, Torrance Art Museum.
12th Arte Laguna Prize, Exhibition Catalogue.
2017
Alumna Exhibition Video at Seattle Gallery, The University of Alabama College News, March 7th 2017
Andy Behrle, Blake Marques Carrington and Elizabeth Withstandley Join e4c rotation, 4 Culture, April 20, 2017.
Unauthorized SFMOMA exhibition catalogue
2016
Making it Grey, exhibition catalogue, Locust Projects.
2015
Elizabeth Withstandley’s “You Can Not Be Replaced” is a fitting goodbye for Dimensions Variable, by Nichole Martinez The Miami New Times, September 1, 2015
RESIDENCIES
2024 Arctic Circle Residency, Svalsbard
2023 Arvo Pärt Center, Estonia
2022 La Wayaka Current, Atacama Desert, Chile
2021 AIRIE, Everglades National Park, FL
2020 InnovAIR, Valletta Cultural Agency, Malta
2019 The Curfew Tower Residency, Northern Ireland
2017 SIM Residency, Reykjavik, Iceland
2016 The Curfew Tower Residency, Northern Ireland
2015 Arteles Creative Residency Program, Finland
2004 The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Wendover, Nevada
SELECT GRANTS, AWARDS and RECOGNITION
2025 Finalist Fondation François Schneider’s Contemporary Talent
2023 Aesthetica Art Prize Finalist
Kite Prize for Contemporary Art (finalist)
2021 Reclaim Award, Cologne Germany
Grand Prize Winner See Me “Journeys”
2020 Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Emergency Grant
Hopper Prize Spring 2020 (shortlist)
BBA Prize, Berlin Germany
2019 Semifinalist, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2019, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
2000 New Forms Miami, Division of Cultural Affairs Grant, 2000