Nicole Eisenman (American/French, b.1965) is an artist from Verdun, France, who is best known for her installations and paintings. Though she grew up in France, Eisenman moved to the United States to attend college. After receiving The European Honors Program: Rhode Island School of Design Year in Rome Award, she attended the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated in 1987 with an MFA degree.
Eisenman’s first exhibition was in 1990 at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art on Staten Island, NY. The group exhibition at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Figuring Eros, featured several female artists. It wasn''t until two years later that she had her first solo showing, which took place at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica, CA. The gallery showed her work multiple times over the years, and she also had solo shows at the Noga Gallery in Tel Aviv, Israel, the Barbara Weiss Gallery in Berlin, Germany, the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, NY, and the Entwistle Gallery in London, England.
Though she is best known for her installations, Eisenman works in other mediums, including paintings, drawings, and sketches. Many of her pieces draw inspiration from the things she experienced as a child or young woman. New Braces shows a young woman with metal braces and head pieces attached to the braces, which mimics the way the artist felt when she had her own braces. Some of her pieces bring a touch of whimsy to the images because Eisenman uses pop culture for inspiration. Alice in Wonderland uses the classic image of Alice from the storybook, but Alice meets Wonder Woman instead of the Mad Hatter. As a lesbian artist, Eisenman often creates pieces that focus on strong, independent women. Her piece Logger House shows a group of women in men''s clothing, working together to take down a man. Her humorous pieces led to several publications asking her for stories and interviews, including Flash Art and The Times. Eisenman currently lives and works in New York, and she is represented by the Leo Koenig Gallery in New York.