Darrel Ellis - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The first monograph on Darrel Ellis' expressive transformations of photographic memory

Known for his experimental approach to painting and photography, New York-based mixed-media artist Darrel Ellis (1958-92) explored the psychic terrain between surface, memory and lyric self-representation. Working in part from his late father's photographs, Ellis projected, deconstructed and reimaged his family history, creating uncanny portraits marked by voids and warps. His commitment to the self-portrait was no less inspired, particularly after his experiences of being photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe and Peter Hujar. Ellis was on the cusp of major recognition when his life was cut short by AIDS in 1992, at the age of 33.
This monograph provides the most comprehensive account of the artist to date, including 80 plates that chart his development from figurative painting to photographic experimentation and his later preoccupation with self-portraiture. Essays and an illustrated chronology featuring previously unseen excerpts from the artist's journals provide new insights into Ellis' life and work.

Review Quotes

Darrel Ellis is not only the first book devoted to his work since 1996, it is also an indispensable collection of scholarship, history, interviews, and stunning reproductions of the artist's oeuvre. The impressive essays by Derek Conrad Murray and Tiana Reid, a description of the artist's archive by Steven G. Fullwood, an eye-opening interview with the artist from 1991, and a thought-provoking conversation between contemporary artists will lift the shroud of mystery that has surrounded Ellis's life and art.--Peter Murphy "ASAP/J"

Rather than showcasing his best-known works, such as his self-portrait made after a photograph by Mapplethorpe, it instead leans into process, including unfinished works, pages of journals, and a section that considers how to treat the archive he left behind after his 1992 death at age 33 from AIDS complications.--Megan Liberty "Hyperallergic"

Addresses the myriad components of identity through patrimony, race, self-perception, and aesthetic tampering.--Sarah Moroz "Bookforum"

Darrel Ellis made a wrenchingly heartfelt body of work based on his late father's photographs. They've remained obscure until now.--Chris Wiley "New Yorker"