{"id":5746,"date":"2023-09-12T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T17:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/?p=5746"},"modified":"2023-09-12T15:32:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T20:32:29","slug":"milwaukee-art-museum-to-present-first-comprehensive-survey-of-darrel-elliss-innovative-and-poignant-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/2023\/09\/milwaukee-art-museum-to-present-first-comprehensive-survey-of-darrel-elliss-innovative-and-poignant-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee Art Museum to Present First Comprehensive Survey of Darrel Ellis\u2019s Innovative and Poignant Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Darrel Ellis: Regeneration<\/em> explores the breadth of Ellis\u2019s pioneering practice merging painting, printmaking, and photography.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milwaukee, WI \u2013 September 12, 2023<\/strong> \u2013 This fall, the Milwaukee Art Museum will present Darrel Ellis: Regeneration<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, the first major museum exhibition showcasing the breadth of Ellis\u2019s practice, which combined photography, painting, printmaking, and drawing. Through his work, Ellis examined themes including domestic life, selfhood, and stereotypes of Black masculinity and anticipated current artistic interest in appropriation, archive, and personal narrative. Co-organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art and The Bronx Museum of the Arts, this expansive presentation features over 120 works and objects that offer an intimate view into the work and practice of an artist whose life and career were cut short by his death from AIDS-related causes at age 33. Darrel Ellis: Regeneration<\/em> will be on view in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts October 20, 2023\u2013January 14, 2024<\/strong>.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDarrel Ellis is a prime example of someone whose work expands the possibilities of contemporary art,\u201d said Marcelle Polednik, Ph.D., Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/strong>.\u202f \u201cThis exhibition continues the Museum\u2019s commitment to championing the work of artists who deserve to be recognized for the contributions they have made to the field. As the only Midwest venue for this impactful survey, we are excited to share Ellis\u2019s long under-recognized career with our visitors.\u201d\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellis\u2019s work garnered critical acclaim and was featured in more than 20 group exhibitions in New York and Europe, including the 1989 exhibition Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing<\/em> organized by Nan Goldin at Artists Space. Following Ellis\u2019s untimely death, his work was included in the Museum of Modern Art\u2019s New Photography 8<\/em> exhibition in 1992. Since that time, his work has received scarce attention. Bringing a new curatorial perspective to his oeuvre, Darrel Ellis: Regeneration<\/em> is the first museum-organized monographic exhibition of the artist\u2019s highly original body of work.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEllis created new works from his father\u2019s photographs through darkroom manipulation, reframing\u2014or as the exhibition\u2019s title suggests, regenerating\u2014narratives around family and identity,\u201d said Ariel Pate, Assistant Curator of Photography, at the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/strong>. \u201cThis significant exhibition offers an opportunity to look closely at Ellis\u2019s distinctive studio practice and understand how he thoughtfully transformed photographs taken by himself and others to create profoundly deep and personal works.\u201d\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrel Ellis: Regeneration<\/em> is curated by Dr. Antonio Sergio Bessa, chief curator emeritus at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and Leslie Cozzi, curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Additional research for this project was provided by Bronx Museum Curatorial Fellow Kyle Croft.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhibition Highlights include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n