After growing up in the American South and receiving his BFA from Sam Houston State University, and an MFA from the University of Houston in Texas, Terry Elkins (b. 1951 | Mississippi) was drawn to the East Coast to forge his career as a painter. When Elkins first came to the South Fork of Long Island in the late 1980’s, the culture was slow-paced, humble, and centered around an economy of independent fisherman. Every day, Elkins would witness Baymen set out to sea in their dories to cast nets offshore to earn a living from their catch. Decades later, that lifestyle has sadly dissolved due to huge offshore fishing fleets, and the crunch of 21st Century conventions. Nonetheless, Elkins paintings are devoted to this humble vision of the Hamptons; where a dory can lay along the beach unlocked without fear of tampering or theft; and the serene beauty of the local landscape is more than sufficient to satisfy one’s way of life.
After nearly 4 decades of living on the East End, Elkins avows that “there are many beautiful places here, and I will honestly say I’ve discovered most of them.” Unspoiled lands, fortunately protected by conservation easements, native ecosystems are allowed to thrive unhindered by human contamination and development.
Education
MFA 1978 University of Houston
BFA 1975 Sam Houston State University
2017 Maine Country Home, Rockland, ME
2012 Peter Marcelle Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York
2008 Camden Falls Gallery, Camden, Maine
2006 Montauk Lighthouse Museum, Montauk, New York
2006 Hampton Road Gallery, Southampton, New York
2002 Lizan Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York
2000 Burnaby Gallery, Hamilton, Bermuda
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
2020 MM Fine Art Advisory and Appraisals, Southampton, NY
2019 MM Fine Art Advisory and Appraisals, Southampton, NY
2018 Mark Borghi Gallery, New York, NY
2015 Southampton Arts Center, Southampton, NY
2011 Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY
2011 Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, Maine
2010 Patty Look Lewis Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2009 Clinton Academy, East Hampton
2008 Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
2007 Wallace Arts, East Hampton, NY
2007 Camden Falls Gallery, Camden, Maine
2003 Staten Island Academy of Arts and Science
2003 Bermuda National Gallery
Articles
Newsday, LI, special by Liz Statton, Sunday Oct. 29, 2011
East Hampton Press, Michael Wright, Page A-1, June 25, 2008
Hamptons.com, Eileen Casey, June 2008
East Hampton Star, Sheridan Sansegundo, March 31, 2005
STUDIOS BY THE SEA, Jonathan Becker and Bob Colacello, Abrams, 2002
PRINTMAKING IN THE SUN, Dan Welden and Pauline Muir,
Watson-Cuptill Publications, 2001
The Royal Gazette, Bermuda, Nancy Acton, May 25, 2000
PRINTMAKING TODAY, Techniques, Winter, 1999
Honors
2005 Pollock-Krasner Foundation
2003 Artist in Residence, Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, NY
1992 Artist in Residence, The Nature Conservancy, Warhol Preserve
1991 Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Teaching
Adjunct Professor of Art History, University of La Verne, La Verne, California
Instructor of Painting, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York
Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York
Art Barge, Amagansett, New York
Collection of Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY
Speaker: Guild Hall of East Hampton, the Parrish Art Museum, and Bermuda National Gallery.
