Ellen Gallagher
Ellen Gallagher is a painter whose work addresses the conventions of reductive abstraction from an unexpected angle by engaging symbols of racial stereotypes. She repeats and reworks images, often cutting into the surface of her pieces. Gallagher relates her carving to scrimshaw and likens the act of cutting to the trend among young women who cut themselves “in order to gain control in a scary environment.”
Disparities and Deformations
Disparities and Deformations: Our Grotesque brought together a diverse group of contemporary artworks that respond and give new substance to the sense of emotional and logical uncertainty inherent in the grotesque, described by the 19th-century writer Jean Paul as a state of “soul dizziness.” The exhibition tracked the incongruous combination of disparate forms and ideas in the work of internationally renowned artists of different generations, coming from various cultural contexts, and working with different processes and ideas.
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