Portrait of Phoebe Helander, 2026
Phoebe Helander (b. 1988) crafts deftly made oil on wood paintings, finding her subject within familiar elements of daily life. The painter uses subtle yet highly impactful technical strategies to convey moments of intense contemplation, completing works in single sessions lasting anywhere from four to ten hours. Often returning to the same object matter, Helander produces book-sized paintings that emerge from an expressive and durational form of perceptual painting. She received her MFA from Yale University in 2019, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at Karma, Thomaston, ME; Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY; Palo Gallery, New York, NY; and New Release, New York, NY; among others. In 2024, she presented her third solo exhibition with Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY, which was accompanied by a catalog essay by curator and critic Robert Storr and reviewed in Hyperallergic by critic John Yau. Her first exhibition with P·P·O·W, Paintings from the Orange Room, was on view October 31 – December 20, 2025. The gallery will present new paintings by Helander at Post-Fair in Santa Monica, CA, February 26 – 28, 2026.
Phoebe Helander
b. 1988, Vermont
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
Education
2019
MFA, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2011
BA, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA
Solo Exhibitions
2025
Paintings from the Orange Room, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
2024
In Plain Sight, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY
2023
Redolence, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY
2022
Sessions, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY
Group Exhibitions
2024
Fifth Annual All Small, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY
Vanitas, Palo Gallery, New York, NY
Whose Muse?, Palo Gallery, New York, NY
Understory – Snakes, Snails, & the Forest Floor, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY
2023
Booked, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY
2022
Still Life and the Poetry of Place, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY
2019
Yale Painting and Printmaking MFA 2019, New Release, New York, NY
Bibliography
2024
Storr, Robert. “Tiny Pictures in a Period of Massive Flux in Advance of Lights Out.” In Plain Sight Catalog Essay, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY, 2024.
Phoebe Helander
Ice melting III, 2025
oil on wood
11 1/8 x 13 x 1 1/8 ins.
28.3 x 33 x 2.9 cm
Phoebe Helander
Candle Burning VIII, 2025
oil on wood
15 x 12 x 1 3/4 ins.
38.1 x 30.5 x 4.4 cm
Phoebe Helander
Bowl, 2025
oil on wood
11 3/8 x 12 1/2 x 1 1/8 ins.
28.9 x 31.8 x 2.9 cm
Phoebe Helander
Poppies, 2025
oil on wood
12 1/8 x 13 x 1 7/8 ins.
30.8 x 33 x 4.8 cm
Phoebe Helander
Wire Form III (Divided Space), 2026
oil on wood
11 1/8 x 14 ins.
28.3 x 35.6 cm
Phoebe Helander
Maidenhair, 2025
oil on wood
11 1/4 x 12 1/2 ins.
28.6 x 31.8 cm
P·P·O·W is pleased to announce the representation of Phoebe Helander. In deftly made oil on wood paintings, Helander finds her subject within familiar elements of daily life.
Phoebe Helander’s first solo exhibition in New York City is an auspicious debut consisting of nearly fifty intimate still lifes that make legible her attention to objects over time.
We are pleased to host a conversation between artists Phoebe Helander and Sam Messer in conjunction with "Paintings from the Orange Room," Helander's first solo exhibition with the gallery.
The second slate of New York fall shows has arrived, and they explore everything from material excess to spiritual renewal.
Helander removes her art from the frozen time in which still life paintings exist and reminds us that the moment recreated has already come and gone.
