Darrel Ellis

On Ellis’ ingenious, heartfelt explorations of memory and disillusion through multimedia photography

A New York Times ‘Best Art Books of 2023’ pick

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.