Installation view, Sky-wreck 1/22, 2001, handwoven indigo dyed cotton, Château de Rochechouart, France, 2022. Photo Aurélien Mole.

Hendl Helen Mirra

Hendl Helen Mirra was born in Rochester, New York in 1970 and lives on the Pacific coast near San Francisco.

Solo exhibitions include Musée d’art contemporain de la haute-vienne (Chateau de Rochechouart), Rochechouart, France (2022); MAZ, Museo de Arte Zapopan, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico (2020); Berkeley Art Museum (2019, 2003); The Aspen Art Museum (2015); Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2012); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; and Bonner Kunstverein (both 2011); Dallas Museum of Art (2004); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2002); and Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (2001). A fifteen-year survey (1996-2010) of her work was presented at Culturgest in Lisbon in 2014. In 2023 the Swiss Institute, New York commissioned the work Harmless mistake as part of the long-term exhibition Spora on view until May 2026.

Recent group exhibitions in 2025 include; Parcours, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Fondazione Cosso, Turin, Italy and Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc, Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

She participated in the XIII Bienal de Arte Paiz, Guatemala City and Antigua GT (2023), the 30th São Paulo Biennial (2012) and the 50th Venice Biennial (2003).

Recognitions and residencies include the DAAD in Berlin (2005/2006), OCA in Oslo (2007/08), IASPIS in Stockholm (2011), MacDowell (1998, 2013, 2015), and a Guggenheim fellowship (2020).

Works by Mirra are included in prominent public collections both in the United States and Europe; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, in France, they are held by institutions such as 49 Nord 6 Est – Frac Lorraine in Metz, Frac Bretagne in Rennes, Frac Grand Large – Hauts-de-France in Dunkirk, Frac Île-de-France in Paris, and the Musée d'art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne – Château de Rochechouart. In the U.S., Mirra’s work is represented in major museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Dallas Museum of Art, Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Installation view, Parcours, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2025, photo by Graysc ⁠

108 postkartlz [108 postcard], 2025, ink on paper, thumbtacks, overall: 110 x 210 cm

peripher Barfüßer [Peripheral Barefoot], 2025, ink on paper, framed: 26.5 x 32 cm

Installation view Miller’s views, 2001, Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, 2025

Installation view Miller’s views, 2001, Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, 2025

Installation view, Château de Rochechouart, France, 2022. Photo Aurélien Mole.

Installation view, Château de Rochechouart, France, 2022. Photo Aurélien Mole.

Installation view, Château de Rochechouart, France, 2022. Photo Aurélien Mole.

Installation view, Château de Rochechouart, France, 2022. Photo Aurélien Mole.

Installation view "Mmontessorri" , Galerie Nordenhake Mexico City, Mexico, 2022

Installation view "ĉielarka aktivec’", Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, 2020

Index card, 2020, Ink on paper, 15.3 x 10.2 cm

Installation view "ĉielarka aktivec’", Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, 2020

Majo, 2020, Linen, wool, 87 x 53 x 1 cm

Majo, 2020, Detail

Julio, 2019, Linen, 79 x 56 x 3 cm

Oktobro, fire basket, for Marjetica Potrč, 2019, Linen and mushroom-dyed wool, 39 x 50 x 2 cm |

Novembro, 2019, undyed wool, 84.5 x 59.5 x 1 cm

Novembro, 2019, detail

Installation view "ĉielarka aktivec’", Berlin 2020

Installation view "Nueve años caminando en las laderas", Galerie Nordenhake Mexico City, 2018

Installation View "*", Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm, 2018

Installation View "*", Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm, 2018

Installation view "Helen Mirra – Allyson Strafella", Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, 2016

Grayish green, rhubarb-dyed blue-green, yellow-green, lichen-dyed light brown, 2015, linen and wool on linen, 70 x 39.5 cm

Medium saxon blue, dark blue, 2015, linen and wool on linen, 91 x 43 cm

Installation view "Helen Mirra", Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm 2015

Installation view "Helen Mirra", Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm 2015

Installation view "Helen Mirra", Galerie Nordenhake Stockholm 2015

Walking comma, 02 October, Cortina, 2013, black and white photograph and text, framed, 28 x 43 cm

Hourly field notes, 10 October, Dakesawa, 2012, detail

Hourly field notes, 10 October, Dakesawa, 2012, ink on cotton, 7 sections, each 16 mm x 1 mm

Hourly directional field recordings, Monte Orlando, 6 May, 2011, oil on linen, 155 x 155 cm

Hourly directional field recordings, Gravagna, 11 May 2011, oil on linen, 155 x 155 cm

Phyllodoce caerulea & Achillea millefolium (Blue heath & Yarrow), 2007, pressed vascular plants, 29,5 x 48,5 cm

Metamorphosed, 2007, cotton (shirts), serpentinite rock with hematite, casein-painted magnesite and chlorite, 10 x 23 x 30 cm

Sky-wreck, 2001, handwoven indigo dyed cotton, 1/11th of the sky, The Renaissance Societey Chicago, 2001

Sky-wreck, 2001, detail

Installation view "Helen Mirra – Edge Habitat", Culturgest, Lisbon 2014 (exhibition), Sidewalk cover, 1998