Parrish Art Museum Announces Retrospective Exhibition of Nina Yankowitz: ‘In the Out/Out the In’

The Parrish Art Museum will present “In the Out/Out the In,” the first museum retrospective of American artist Nina Yankowitz (b. 1946), on view from October 9, through February 22, 2026. A members and VIP opening reception will be held Saturday, October 11. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, the exhibition traces the artist’s six-decade career across painting, sculpture, sound, video and interactive installation.

Yankowitz emerged in the 1960s New York art scene, known for experimenting with canvas, cardboard, paint sprayers and sewing machines to create abstract, process-driven works. A founding member of the feminist Heresies Collective (1976–1993), her early practice was shaped by the women’s movement, process art, and the legacy of Abstract Expressionism. She was active in Greenwich Village’s countercultural scene and later collaborated with the Group 212 Inter-Media Project, exploring performance and new media.

“Yankowitz has never stopped challenging the limits of artistic practice,” said Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, executive director of the Parrish Art Museum. “She symbolically weaves painting, sculpture, sound, performance and technology in transformative ways. She has long been a neighbor and friend to the museum, and we are delighted to present her first major retrospective and honor her deep ties to our East End community.”

The exhibition follows her evolution from early draped and pleated canvases to multimedia and socially engaged works. Featured pieces include “Dilated Grain Readings” (1973–77), her synesthetic painting series; “Lips Knees Neck Elbows Chest Rear” (1974), an audio work exploring bodily awareness; and “Hell’s Breath” (1982), a monumental ceramic tile mural not seen since its MoMA PS1 debut. More recent works include “Criss Crossing the Divine” (2016), an interactive installation on world religions, and “Closing Bell” (2025), a new collaborative piece addressing climate catastrophe and migration crises, created with more than 30 artists, poets and musicians.

“Preparing an exhibition with Nina is always an adventure — moving through ideas, space and sound,” said Corinne Erni, Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator of Art and Education and Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs. “Her 2023 installation in the ‘Artists Choose Parrish’ exhibition was one of a kind. This show will be no less invigorating.”

The Parrish presentation highlights Yankowitz’s longstanding relationship with the East End, where she has lived and worked since the early 1990s. She first spent time in the region during the 1970s, among artists such as Hermine Freed, Barbara Kruger, Joan Semmel, Marjorie Strider and Michelle Stuart. Local sounds from birds and insects shaped her early sound works. In 1993, she purchased a home in Sag Harbor.

“I am honored to have my story told and presented at the Parrish Art Museum by curators Corinne Erni and Scout Hutchinson,” Yankowitz said. “Their dedication, along with the support of Mónica Ramírez-Montagut and the staff, has made this a special curator-artist collaboration.”

The exhibition is organized by Katherine Pill, senior curator of contemporary art at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. The Parrish presentation is curated by Erni with Scout Hutchinson, associate curator of exhibitions. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the show, with essays by Erni, Pill, Barbara London, Glenn Adamson and others.

Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. Visit parrishart.org for details.