Elena Borstein currently lives and works in New York City and the Adirondack Mountains. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut and received her B.S. Degree in Fine Arts from Skidmore College and her B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. She is Professor Emerita of York College, CUNY.
Borstein's work is included in many major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, NY; Hayden Museum, MIT, Cambridge, MA; Neuberger Museum, Purchase ,NY; Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY; Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; She is currently represented in New York City by the Andre Zarre Gallery and Kathryn Markel Gallery and in upstate New York by the Atea Ring Gallery.

Her work has been in many solo and group exhibitions both in this country and abroad including "American Realism" at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1985, the Bronx Museum in 1978, 1986, and 1993, "New Acquisitions" in the Everson Museum, The Herbert F. Johnson Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Her work was part of a traveling exhibit organized by the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C. called "The Liberation - 14 American Artists" which traveled to 11 countries. She also exhibited at the McNay Art Institute in San Antonio, and won a Purchase Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1976.
Throughout the 70's, 80's, and 90's Borstein traveled to Greece and other Mediterranean countries, where she was captivated by the light and simple geometry of the houses. In 1987 she traveled to Cuba and has returned many times since. Her recent work has also been influenced by a 2004 trip to New Zealand and by the Adirondack mountains where she lives.

Solo Exhibitons
2006 Atea Ring Gallery, Westport, NY
2005 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
2004 Atea Ring Gallery, Westport, NY
2002 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
2001 MuseumWest,Palo Alto , Ca
2000 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
1994 Nahan Galleries, New York,NY
1992 Nahan Galleries, New York, NY
1991 Nahan Galleries, New York,NY
1989 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
1987 J.J. Brookings Gallery , San Jose,CA
1987 Sazama /Brauer Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1985 Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY
1984 Martha White Gallery, Lexington,KY
1983 Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY
1982 Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, FL
1981 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, N.Y.
1980 Squibb Museum, Princeton, NJ
1979 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
1979 David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1978 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
1976 Max Protech Gallery, Washington, DC

Selected Group Exhibitions
2005 "LenteAmigo" (2 artists), Remedios, Cuba
2005 "Viajeros: North American Artists/Photographers Images of Cuba,"
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
2003 "Images of Cuba," Remedios, Cuba
2001 "Pigment Parameters," Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Group Show, Coplan Gallery, Boca RAton, Fla
1997 Group Show, JJ Brookings Gallery, San Fransisco,Ca
The Web Gallery, New York , NY
1996 “Patchwork”, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
1994 “20th Anniversary Exhibition, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York,
“Teamwork” ,Lehman College/Krasdale Foods, Bronx, NY
1993 “The City Observed”,Bronx Museum of Art, Krasdale Foods,
“Combinations”, Andre Zarre Gallery,New York, NY
1992 Christmas Show”, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
“Little Gems”, Nahan Gallery, New York, NY
“Urban Mindscapes”, Krasdale Foods Gallery, White Plains,
1989 “Architectural Themes in Art”, Nabisco GAllery, Hanover, NJ
1988 “Four Painters”, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York,.NY
1987 “Inaugural Exhibiton”, Sazama/Brauer Gallery, Chicago,IL
“Contemporary Light”, Kathryn Markel Gallery, NewYork,N.Y.
“Three NY Artists”, Sazama/Brauer Gallery, Chicago ,IL
“Contemporary Symbolist Sensibilities”,Bronx Museum of Art
1986 “Points of View” ,Bronx Museum of Art,Bronx, NY
1985 “American Realism” San Francisco Museum of Art, SF
“Photo-Synthesis”,1 Penn Plaza,New York,NY
“Point of View”, Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY
1984 “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”,Kathryn Markel Gallery,
1983 “Five from New York”, Merrill Lynch, New York, NY
“Variety and Quest in Current Painting”, Zolla/Lieberman ,IL
“Newscapes:Land& City State of Mind” One Penn Plaza, NY
1982 “Architectural Images in Contemporary Paintings”, Summit Art Center, Summit, NJ
“Skidmore Invitational”, Skidmore College, Saratoga, NY
1981 “101 New Acquisitions” , Everson Art Museum, Syracuse, NY
“NY State Graphics Plus”, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
“Four New York Artists” Harriman College, Harriman, NY
1980 “Harmonious Contradictions”, Upstairs Gallery, Ithaca ,NY
1979 “Gifts of Drawing”,Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
“Differentials”, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY
1978 “Personal Spaces”, Bronx Museum of Art, Bronx, NY
“Fifth Anniversary Exhibition”, Andre Zarre Gallery, NY
“Women Artists ‘78”, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY
1977 “Perspective ‘77”, Albright College,Reading, PA
“Group Show”, Allesandro Gallery, New York, NY
“Paintings and Works on Paper”, Andre Zarre Gallery,NY
1976 “The Liberation-14 American Artists”, CorcoraGallery/Aarhus
Kunstmuseum (Exhibition travelled to 9 countries)
“American Artists ‘76: A Celebration”, McNay Art Institute,San Antonio,TX
“20 New York Artists”, University of Wisconsin, WI
1975 “Childe Hassam Purchase Fund Exhibit”, American Academy of Arts and Letters
“Year of the Woman”, Bronx Museum of Art, Bronx, NY
1974 “Point of View”, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
“New York Eleven”, C.W. Post College, Long Island,NY
“Contemporary Reflections”,Aldrich Museum of Fine Arts, CT