Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis (b.1989) is a performative research based artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY who interrupts, dissects, and examines mechanisms of power through humor, empathy, and Camp. She critically implements foundations of western tropes as well as their archetypal exteriors as points of entry to explore their origins and political objectives. While the cornerstone of her practice lies in research, it’s important to Ellis that the form is open to evolution through the participation of collaborative subjects and the shifting environments in which the work is produced. Rather than working within a preconceived form, she relies on the subject to dictate it’s needs.
Gear Jammer Vs. Eagle Eye
2021 Video and mixed materials 365.76 x 518.16 cm / 144 x 204 in
Ellis works within the parameters of the American mythos and the consequences of the American crafted narrative, specifically, within social political relationships regarding the dynamics of control and hierarchical state manipulation within the working class. Her work strives to question the protagonists of our daily visual consumption and to investigate how they function within our social and political spheres. Ellis’ work intends to produce layers of viewership that can include varied participation through combinations of empathic satire, derived nostalgia from the American canon, and mimicry of forms of western popular consumption.
168 Hours of Evel
2019 Performance documented by video
How To Claim Space Without Pissing
2020 Performance documented by video
Hunter MFA
This spring, the Hunter College MFA Program in Studio Art will graduate 26 artists who completed their degree over the challenging months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These talented MFA Thesis Candidates are exhibiting their work in six group exhibitions at 205 Hudson, in addition to this online spotlight hosted by Hauser & Wirth. At time when the public audience for in-person exhibitions has been limited by the pandemic, we are excited to provide this digital platform to the emerging artists from Hunter College’s MFA Program in Studio Art.
Images: Portrait of Jessica Ellis. Photo: Néstor Pérez-Molière; Jessica Ellis, Gear Jammer Vs. Eagle Eye, 2021. Photo: Néstor Pérez-Molière; Jessica Ellis, Behind the scenes film of Gear Jammer Vs. Eagle Eye, 2021. Photo: Eric Durkin; Jessica Ellis, 168 Hours of Evel, 2019. Photo: Kelli Mcguire; Jessica Ellis, How To Claim Space, 2020. Photo: Jessica Ellis