Elina Frumerman is an interdisciplinary artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born in the Soviet Union, her work is deeply influenced by her experience of immigrating as a refugee to the United States. Drawing on Soviet constructivism and early 20th century set design, her work explores themes of personal and collective memory, mythology and estrangement. Working across photography, sculpture, painting and installation, her practice explores possibilities for understanding not just her own cultural inheritance, but the broader ways we all engage with historical narratives.
Frumerman has presented solo exhibitions at the Jones Institute in San Francisco and participated in group exhibitions at the Berkeley Art Center, Coulter Gallery in Palo Alto, and SOMArts in San Francisco. Her installation "Stateless" was recently exhibited at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, SF. In 2024, Frumerman received the Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Award from the San Francisco Arts Foundation.
EDUCATION
2025 Stanford University — MFA, Art Practice
2006–07 California College of the Arts, San Francisco
1995 Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ — BA
GRANTS & RESIDENCIES
2025 KALA Artist Residency, Berkeley, CA
2024 Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Award — San Francisco Arts Foundation
2022 NYC Crit Club: The Canopy Program, New York, NY
SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 IN PROGRESS: Proxies, Prototypes and Maquettes
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA (Curated by Kevin Chen)
2025 Present Histories — MFA Thesis Exhibition
Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery, Palo Alto, CA (Curated by Paul DiMarinis)
2025 Stateless — California Jewish Open
Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA (Curated by Elissa Strauss)
2025 Botanicae — The Perish Trust, San Francisco, CA
2024 Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards — SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
2024 Sweaty Armpits — 120710.art, Berkeley, CA (Curated by Pouyanfar & Puls)
2024 Letter From the Network — Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
2024 "&" MFA Group Exhibition — Coulter Gallery, Stanford, CA
2023 Stateless [Solo Exhibition] — The Jones Institute, San Francisco, CA
2023 Pyramid Scheme — Bass and Reiner, San Francisco, CA/
2020 Botanicae — SF Decorator Showcase, San Francisco, CA
2020 Botanicae [Solo Exhibition] — DZINE Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2019 Botanicae [Solo Exhibition] — The Jones Institute, San Francisco, CA
PUBLICATIONS
2024 Han, Grace. "Art of Off-Cuts." Present Histories Catalog Essay, April 2024.
2024 Gonzalez Ho, Christian. “To Scale”. Present Histories Catalog Essay, April 2024.
2018 National Geographic — An Appetite for Russia
2014 Library of Congress — Letters from the Ivory Coast (4 volumes)
TEACHING
2024 Graduate Instructor, Arranging Things: Still Life and Composition — Stanford University
2024–25 Teaching Assistant, Stanford University
Introductory Photography, Painting 1, The Hybrid Print, Drawing with Code, Media Archeology
LECTURES & PANELS
2024 In Conversation with Natalya Burd — Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
2020 Artist Talk — DZINE Gallery Lecture Program, San Francisco, CA
2019 In Conversation with Anton Stuebner — Jones Institute, San Francisco, CA
2019 In Conversation with Rimma Boshernistan — Jones Institute, San Francisco, CA
2019 Muse is a Verb — Creative Mornings SF Lecture Program, San Francisco, CA
CONTINUING EDUCATION
2021 San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA
2018 Todd Hido Photography Workshop, Palm Springs, CA