About

Tobin Rothlein

My primary medium is the human body — it’s traces, imprints, relationships and implications. Playing with sculpture, performance, dance and video I create the games, invite in the accidental and enjoy the surprises.  I explore the possibilities until I, and perhaps you, begin to see in strange new ways

Artist Bio

Tobin Rothlein is an artist and educator living in Brooklyn, New York.  He has created and shown works in 10 countries, in venues including The 21st Biennale of Sydney, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Holland’s Grand Theatre, Phnom Penh’s Meta House Gallery, London’s Royal Opera House and Battersea Arts Centre, The Whitney Museum of Art-Altria, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Vox Populi, Kimmel Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the PA Academy of Fine Arts. Rothlein is a two time Dance Advance Award recipient, Independence Fellowship recipient, and was named a Pew Fellow in 2006.  Rothlein has had the honor of collaborating and working creatively with Rennie Harris, Reggie Wilson, Donald Byrd, Uri Caine, Ron Gallo, Pete Wyer, and Zeena Parkins among others.  

Tobin’s feature documentary film Eyes of the Storm — shot in 1997 on location in Hong Kong during its’ politically charged return to China — received wide educational distribution and aired on PBS (KTEH San Jose).  Tobin’s short dance and documentary films have been featured at the BBC British Short Film Festival in London, Anthology Film Archive and Lincoln Center Dance on Camera Festival in New York, and aired on WHYY PBS in Philadelphia. The film Song of the Body, made the list of “best dance films” in the 2004 publication Envisioning Dance.

Tobin founded Miller Rothlein (MIRO), a non-profit dance and performance organization, in 2004. He received his MFA from MICA, The Maryland Institute College of Art, in 2013. Tobin worked five years as a Lead Teaching Artist and Full time Faculty member of Lincoln Center Education, and currently works as a consultant while making art at home and abroad.