Ellen Gallagher : Watery Ecstatic
Ellen Gallagher's work is largely based on being concerned with reclaiming, renewing and re-imagining black histories in the African diaspora, she came of relevant in the art world in the mid 1990's with large works of ink on penmanship paper mounted canvas, often compared with American modernist abstract painting. Especially the works of Agnes Martin.
Below is 'paper cup' by Ellen Gallagher in 1996, which is simply ink on canvas, which was exhibited in the Tate and national galleries of Scotland. What surprises me at first glance of Ellen's work is that its considered African art, I think it surprises me because I associate African art with tribal patters and bright colours usually mounted on raw and natural materials, however I can se this resemblance though the penmanship paper, thicker textured paper looking more handmade and natural.
The art is considered abstraction as though she has looked at something and deconstructed it right down to its simple lines. Personally I don't think this seems complicated but the idea of doing it at the time was so strange and new, it wasn't anything that was usually seen and it took African art to a new level.
If we then look at the works of Agnes Martin such as 'leaf' made in 1965 made with graphite on a canvas, it is clear why people associate Ellen's work with Martians. It follows the same conventions of material on canvas, simple abstraction from an object. Although these are simple I really like the textures they bring out. I like that they pick one aspect from an object and use just that, for example in the leaf panting it seems she has took the simple lines in the middle of the leafs and turned them into a continuous pattern.
Going back to Ellen Gallagher, she starts to turn this simple abstraction into something even more strangely. In her piece 'Oh! Susanna' in 1993, Gallagher uses eyes and mouths to fill a page; it seems to me she has took features of a person and abstracted them out into just the eyes and mouth. Personally I don't like the piece, it seems strange and sort of cartoon like. But it shows that she is starting to do something very different to Agnes martin's work, it's not just pure abstraction anymore.
They refer to the 'minstrel show' this was an American entertainment show consisting of variety acts, preformed by white people in blackface. The show ridiculed black people as dim-witted, lazy and buffoonish, but also happy go lucky and musical.
It seems the disembodied heads, eyes and mouths are creative responses t racial opposition. The hairstyles, speech, music and dance in which black people have found refuge.
Her obsessive examinations have focus, she pinpoints historical moments of transformation in black history, playing with entrenched stereotypes from the black consumer press that promote black beauty through the purchase of black wigs and hair endorsements.
Above is a later piece by Ellen in 2003 entitled ' Pomp-bang'. This piece to me start to show the reason behind Ellen's work, her early work to me fails to give the message of black refuge across, but the black hair is known for bing big, and this shows that on a whit person in blonde which would usually not be seen at that time. She then starts to do even more of these graphics, creating images out of exiting images placing on top and renewing them, just as she aimed. She was starting to create a portfolio of etchings with photogravure, spit-bits, collage, cutting, scratching, silkscreen, offset lithography and hand building. Even though these images are odd and are actually exploiting the hidden attitude to black culture, they look interesting to me, the use of colour and different techniques I think, as a set, they work really well.
In 2006 Ellen Gallagher starts to create series of work 'watery ecstatic'. The piece ' bird in hand' starts to set the style for it. Through direct reference to the novel 'Moby dick', she depicts this character above as ' an ancient mariner sailing the seas of history to retrieve the discarded cargo of black souls'.
Gallagher was born in 195 and is of bi-national ethnicity, her farther from West Africa and her mum Irish. Whaling was a major industry when she was young and the most expert harpoonists on whaling ships were from Cape Verde. Gallagher is interested in utopian literature and specifically the project known as 'drexiya'. Created by two black electronica artists in Detroit.
Personally I don't like this painting, mostly because of its abstract nature but I do like the materials she has used and the effect it brings out, I think the name of the series really resonates in the images and working with the water colours works well, something I may try myself.
Although I don't like the nature of the above work, I like the style in which it has been done and the materials that have been used. I find the subjects off, they don make sense to me however the style of watery makes sense and I think its actually an interesting concept to think about.
As part of this series she started to move onto sea animals, she had some experience in marine biology on board a ship as a student drawing pteropods before e began her training as an artist. Again I understand the concept of the series of work but i don't really see the point or like the work particularly, I actually preferred the work on black culture and the refuge they take in their music, hair and dress.
Looking at these later pieces in 2006 I think these are more peaceful, calmer and easier to look at, I like the idea of the cut paper and adding slight colour may make them look even better, its a technique I have always wanted to try but never got around to.
