ELLEN GALLAGHER On Prettiness and Politics

Author Artist and Other

Alyssa Graham

Table of Contents Biography

Watery Ecstatic

Bird In Hand

Blubber

The Public’s Opinion

Conclusion

Bibliography

Biography Ellen Gallagher was born in Providence, Rhode

Island in 1965. Before she became an artist, she

first studied Marine Biology and then creative writing at Oberlin Liberal Arts College. From

there she was accepted to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, to study

Fine Arts. Her early fascination with marine life is evident in much of her diverse work,

particularly the renowned Watery Ecstatic collection (more on this later). She is well known for

her characteristic use of a pretty aesthetic and design to convey a political message. In 2000 she

received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Fine Art, for her dedication to

commentary on historical and current issues affecting the lives of African American women.1

Ellen Gallagher is a mixed media and mixed interest artist. She has

worked in sculpture, poetry, collage, photography, drawing,

videography and painting. Her interests expressed in her works

include, Oceanography, microscopic life, popular media, Black

Vernacular language and post war abstraction.2 The following

booklet will explore Gallagher’s use of these themes and how they

are expressed in her most famous collections and pieces.

1 Gagosian, Ellen Gallagher. Accessed: April 31st 2020, https://gagosian.com/artists/ellen-gallagher/ . p. 1. 2 Gagosian, Ellen Gallagher p. 1.

Sample of Gallagher’s

Work

3 4

3 Gallagher, Watery Ecstatic. 2001. 4 Gallagher, Watery Ecstatic. 2001.

5

6

Watery Ecstatic The Watery Ecstatic series is a collection of various works including drawings, collages,

paintings and sculptures created by Ellen Gallagher. All works are simply titled, Watery

Ecstatic. The collection began in 2001 and Gallagher continues to add to it today.7 In

Watery Ecstatic Gallagher uses her knowledge of marine life to create a fantastical future

which acts as a commentary on the history of murdered African women. Each work in the

series depicts an Aquafuture where African women who died during the ship crossings of

5 Gallagher, Watery Ecstatic. 2001. 6 Gallagher, Watery Ecstatic. 2001. 7 Chan, Suzanna. “‘Alive...again." Unmoored in the Aquafuture of Ellen Gallagher's ‘Watery Ecstatic.’” Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 1/2, 2017, jstor-jac.orc.scoolaid.net/stable/44474132. Accessed 30 Apr. 2020 p. 246.

the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade,

transformed into mythical underwater

beings.8 The pictures depict both

these women, their descendants and

the magical sea kingdom they

created.9

The lore created by Gallagher in her Watery Ecstatic continues to compel audiences and

press to this day, as shown by the reviews described in the “Public Opinions” chapter of this

booklet. Both the mythical and the political nature of these pieces are extremely compelling to

audiences. Gallagher’s pieces work as a form of resistance to the dominant “white centered

fantasies of the future.”10 These works also draw attention to a historical perspective often

ignored and act as a powerful tool for encouraging her audience to explore the perspective of

African women during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

Bird In Hand Bird In Hand is another piece created by Ellen Gallagher in 2006. It is a singular oil painting

complete with various collage materials including gold leaf, polymer, salt and ink. It depicts

Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, an exceptional African American dancer in the 20th century,

reimagined as an alienlike being.

8 Chan, Suzanna. “Alive… again.” Unmoored in the Aquafuture of Ellen Gallagher’s ‘Watery Ecstatic.” P. 246. 9 Ibid10 Chan, Suzanne. “Alive… again.” Unmoored in the Aquafuture of Ellen Gallagher’s ‘Watery Ecstatic.” P. 248.

Bird in Hand is a futuristic mixed media piece which

eliminates the restrictive nature, society places on any known

gender or race.11 Art historian Suzanne Chan explains that

because of the reinvented alien-like nature of Clayton Bates,

Bird In Hand “Suggests we will think about what remains to be imagined, once we get past

identifying humans by a sex or race we are familiar with”12 Gallagher’s piece suggests her

appreciation for Bates’s work but also the lack of public appreciation or serious appreciation for

his skill because of his race. In Bird In Hand, Gallagher imagines a world where race and gender

are unidentifiable and as consequence everyone is appreciated for skill and talent alone. This

idea behind Bird In Hand could possibly stem from Gallagher’s initial rejection from Skowhegan

school and her consequential hard work to be considered a viable applicant as an African

American woman.

Blubber Blubber is another collection by Gallagher

which is widely known amongst the art

community. Gallagher started her Blubber

collection in 2001. The collection has

amassed to over ten pieces of various

medias including, collage, painting, drawing and mixed media. The majority

11 Chan, Suzanne. “Alive… again.” Unmoored in the Aquafuture of Ellen Gallagher’s ‘Watery Ecstatic.” P. 250. 12 Chan, Suzanne. “Alive… again.” Unmoored in the Aquafuture of Ellen Gallagher’s ‘Watery Ecstatic.” P. 251.

of Gallagher’s paintings strive to devote attention to or disregard gender and

race norms, Blubber is no different.

The pieces include repetitions of various depictions of harmful and negative

Black stereotypes.13 These stereotypes include such physical attributes as

large eyes, large lips and whitened mouth. These traits are minstrel like in

nature and similar to those discussed in our documentary about the

depiction of African Americans in the United States. Gallagher has described

these traits as “White imaginings of ‘Blackness’” 14 By painting these

images and repeating them hundreds of times on one piece of

canvas ,Gallagher forces her audience to come to terms with these

constantly perpetuated images, in both history and our modern day. The

images neither disappear or change positively over time. They remain the

same ever present, harmful stereotypes only changed

slightly. This unaltered nature of these depictions

strongly parallel the history of the “Black” image. While

stereotypes may alter slightly overtime, they remain the

same damaging images underneath.

13 Wilson, Judith. “Sniffing Elephant Bones: The Poetics of Race in the Art of Ellen Gallagher.” Callaloo, vol. 19, no. 2, 1996, jstor-jac.orc.scoolaid.net/stable/3299181. Accessed 30 Apr. 2020 p. 251. 14 Wilson, Judith. “Sniffing Elephant Bones: The Poetics of Race in the Art of Ellen Gallagher.” P. 252.

The Public’s Opinion Ellen Gallagher has works in galleries all over

the world. She has pieces established in permanent

exhibits in Chicago, Boston, New York, London and

Paris amongst other cities. Despite Gallagher’s global

status, her work often meets differing opinions

amongst the art community. Blubber in particular was

met with mixed reviews.15 This could be due to her

alteration in style from Watery Ecstatic to Blubber.

Her style changes from a characteristically pretty aesthetic (think soft lines and pastel colours) to

a more hardened and blunt look. In 2013,

Laura Cumming of the Guardian described Gallagher’s aesthetic well when stating, “

Her distinctive combination of politics and prettiness has been catnip for collectors and critics

alike these last 20 years.”16 However in the same year Charles Darwent of the UK Independent ,

described Gallagher’s Blubber collection saying, “the exploitation of racial insecurity for

commercial gain- is not a pretty one, and Gallagher’s images would have no business being

pretty.”17 One could argue that Darwent’s comment could be seen as a complement of how

15 Wilson, Judith. “Sniffing Elephant Bones: The Poetics of Race in the Art of Ellen Gallagher.” P. 250. 16 Cumming, Laura. “Ellen Gallagher: AxME – Review.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 May 2013, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign -g/2013/may/05/Ellen Gallagher-axe-tate-review, p.1. 17 Darwent, Charles. “Charles Darwent on Ellen Gallagher: AxME - The Dog Ate My Homework.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 4 May 2013, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/charles-darwent-on-ellen-gallagher-axme-the-dog-ate-my-homework-miss-gallagher-8603837.html. P. 1 .

Gallagher conveys her messages. However, Darwent continues to criticize Blubber describing

the collection as confusing, blunt and repetitive.18 Similar to the Independent, The New York

Times met Gallagher’s work with confusion but also awe. In 2005 Alexander Ros wrote, “What

you would call these new prints in the Whitney show- I honestly don’t know. But with a

virtuosic flash they sure are dissing something and spreading the acid in many directions.”19

While confusing, it is true that Gallagher’s work has received much attention from the art

community these last ten years. Regardless of criticism of her technique Gallagher has drawn

attention to the political issues she is passionate about, everything else is arguably irrelevant.

18 Darwent, Charles. “Charles Darwent on Ellen Gallagher: AxME - The Dog Ate My Homework.” P.1.19 Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review; Ellen Gallagher.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Apr. 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/arts/art-in-review-ellen-gallagher.html. P.1.

Conclusion

Although Gallagher’s work meets differing opinions,

one consistent among reviews is that her work and even

Gallagher herself, seem to exist in an alternate plane from

others. Gallagher creates her own lore and uses fantastical

imagery to create multiple universes. Universes similar

enough to our own, to convey themes of racial and gender

norms, but different enough to give her audience a sense of

wonder, fascination and enchantment. Gallagher strives to

reveal complex and relevant political issues using inviting

images of pastel blues and pinks, soft cascading lines and

shining gold leaf. By creating these welcoming images to

the eye, Gallagher draws her audience in and invites them to

greater themes and understanding. This “prettiness of

politics”20 is Gallagher’s signature trait and truly showcases

her genius. Darwent sums up Ellen Gallagher’s career

perfectly when stating “Gallagher is part

of her own mythology.”21

20 Chan, Suzanne. “Alive… again.” Unmoored in the Aquafuture of Ellen Gallagher’s ‘Watery Ecstatic.” P. 250. 21 Darwent, Charles. “Charles Darwent on Ellen Gallagher: AxME - The Dog Ate My Homework.” P.1.

Bibliography Chan, Suzanna. “‘Alive...again." Unmoored in the Aquafuture of Ellen Gallagher's ‘Watery

Ecstatic.’” Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 1/2, 2017, pp. 246–263. JSTOR, jstor-jac.orc.scoolaid.net/stable/44474132. Accessed 30 Apr. 2020.

Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review; Ellen Gallagher.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Apr. 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/arts/art-in-review-ellen-gallagher.html.

Cumming, Laura. “Ellen Gallagher: AxME – Review.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 May 2013, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/may/05/ellen-gallagher-axme-tate-review.

Darwent, Charles. “Charles Darwent on Ellen Gallagher: AxME - The Dog Ate My Homework.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 4 May 2013, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/charles-darwent-on-ellen-gallagher-axme-the-dog-ate-my-homework-miss-gallagher-8603837.html

“Ellen Gallagher.” Gagosian, 12 Apr. 2018, gagosian.com/artists/ellen-gallagher/.

Wilson, Judith. “Sniffing Elephant Bones: The Poetics of Race in the Art of Ellen Gallagher.” Callaloo, vol. 19, no. 2, 1996, pp. 337–339. JSTOR, jstor-jac.orc.scoolaid.net/stable/3299181. Accessed 30 Apr. 2020.

More Gallagher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlL_Pc0mZsw

(Biography of Gallagher and close up of other paintings)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEq7JnAJ4JY

( Gallagher on Videography and “Fighting the boys.”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4iizpGEV3Y

(A different interpretation of Bird in Hand)