Darrel Ellis

Darrel Ellis
Born1958 (1958)
Bronx
Died1992 (aged 33–34)
Known forPhotography

Darrel Ellis (1958–1992) was an American painter and photographer.

Ellis was born in 1958 in Bronx, New York. In 1979 Ellis was the recipient of a P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center studio residency. He shared the space with fellow artist James Wentzy.[1] Ellis also studied at Cooper Union and the Whitney Independent Study program.[2]

Ellis participated in the 1989 exhibition Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing at the Artists Space gallery in New York.[3] In 1992 Ellis work was included in the Museum of Modern Art's New Photography 8 exhibition.[4] Ellis died the same year at the age of 33 from an AIDS-related illness.[5]

A 2022 retrospective of Ellis's work entitled Darrel Ellis: Regeneration was organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art[6] and the Bronx Museum.[7][8] The exhibition traveled to the Columbia Museum of Art,[5] and the Milwaukee Art Museum,[9]

His work was included in the 2025 exhibition Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 at the National Gallery of Art. [2]

Ellis's works are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art,[10] and the Whitney Museum of American Art.[11]

References

  1. ^ Pearl, Max (19 May 2023). "Will a Retrospective Revive Interest in Darrel Ellis's Experimental Images?". Aperture. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  2. ^ a b Brookman, Philip; Willis, Deborah (2025). Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985. New Haven London: Yale University Press. p. 255. ISBN 9780300283501.
  3. ^ Wiley, Chris (14 December 2021). "An Artist Lost to AIDS Finally Gets His Due". The New Yorker. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  4. ^ "New Photography 8: Dieter Appelt, Ellen Brooks, Darrel Ellis, Dennis Farber, Robert Flynt, Mary Miss, Gundula Schulze and Toshio Shibata". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  5. ^ a b "Darrel Ellis: Regeneration". Columbia Museum of Art. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Darrel Ellis: Regeneration". Baltimore Museum of Art. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  7. ^ Liberty, Megan N. (29 July 2024). "Darrel Ellis: Regeneration |". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Darrel Ellis: Regeneration". The Bronx Museum. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Darrel Ellis: Regeneration". Milwaukee Art Museum. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Darrel Ellis". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  11. ^ "Darrel Ellis". Whitney Museum of American Art. Retrieved 23 January 2026.

Further reading