Painter and printmaker Andrew Balkin was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1947. He began his formal higher education at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in the 1960s, studying philosophy. As political turbulance upended his studied, his ideas on what he wanted to pursue changed drastically. After earning his BA in Philosophy and Sociology in 1971, he turned to studio arts, earning his MA in Etching, Lithography, and Painting in 1976 and his MFA in Etching, Drawing, and Painting in 1977. Among his professors in printmaking were Warrington Colescott and Krishna Reddy, the latter of whom brought his knowledge of the famed experimental printmaking workshop, Atelier 17, to the classroom. This inspired Balkin to establish his own experimental art studio, AGB Graphics Workshop, in Madison.

In the 1990s Balkin and his wife, Renee, created Andrew Balkin Editions, publishing three major portfolios featuring printmakers from throughout the world. Among these were Reddy, Bruce Neuman, William Wiley, Cladys Nilsson, and many more. In 2001 he turned his attention once more to painting and drawing as well as mixed media contructions. He continues to live and work in Madison, Wisconsin. 

Andrew Balkin's work is included in the collection of the National Museum of American Art - Smithsonian Institute; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Chicago Art Institute; the Milwaukee Art Museum; and the Palm Springs Art Museum. He has held exhibitions at major institutions throughout the US, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Elvehjem Museum of Art (now the Chazen Museum), and the Milwaukee Art Museum, among others.