Hendl Helen Mirra was born in Rochester, New York in 1970 and lives in West Marin, California. Major solo exhibitions include Rochechouart Museum (2022); Museo de Arte Zapopan, Jalisco (2020); Berkeley Art Museum (2019); The Aspen Art Museum (2015); Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2012); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; and Bonner Kunstverein (both 2011); Dallas Museum of Art (2004); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2002); and Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (2001). A fifteen-year survey (1996-2010) of her work was presented at Culturgest in Lisbon in 2014. In 2023 the Swiss Institute, New York has commissioned the work Harmless mistake as part of the long-term exhibition Spora on view until May 2025.
She participated in the XIII Bienal de Arte Paiz, Guatemala City and Antigua GT (2023), the 30th São Paulo Biennial (2012) and the 50th Venice Biennial (2003). Mirra has been awarded various awards, including DAAD in Berlin (2005/2006), OCA in Oslo (2007/08), IASPIS in Stockholm (2011), and the Guggenheim Fellowship (2020).