On Ellis' ingenious, heartfelt explorations of memory and disillusion
through multimedia photography
During his short career, Bronx-born Darrel Ellis (1958-92) created a
multifaceted and expansive body of work merging painting, printmaking,
photography and drawing before his premature death due to AIDS-related
causes. During his early 20s, Ellis was given a group of negatives shot
by his father. The young Ellis' unique practice involved projecting
these negatives onto a sculpted surface, masking out areas and
rephotographing them, generating a stream of surrogates that capture the
fleeting effects of memory. Ellis' technical and theoretical
experimentation transformed serial and appropriation practices into
something unrecognizably new and compellingly heartfelt.
Darrel Ellis: Regeneration offers a comprehensive survey of Ellis'
work and includes contributions by Makeda Djata Best, Allen Frame, Scott
Homolka, Linda Owen and Kyle Croft.