Janiva Ellis

Janiva Ellis (born 1987) is an American painter based in Brooklyn, NY and Los Angeles, CA.[1] Ellis often makes figurative paintings that explore the African-American female experience.[2]

Janiva Ellis
Born1987
Oakland, California
NationalityAmerican
EducationCalifornia College of the Arts
Known forPainter

Early life and education

Born in Oakland, California, Ellis moved to Hawaii at the age of 7, moving between the islands of Kauai and Oahu.[3] Raised solely by her white mother, in a state with a small black population, Ellis uses her art practice to investigate and examine the complex racial dynamic of her upbringing.[3] Ellis studied painting at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, graduating in 2012.[3]

Artistic practice

Ellis describes her paintings as “not only an attempt to communicate to nonblack women my experience, but also to call to other black women, ‘Do you feel this, too?’”[2] Critics have commended Ellis for the psychoanalytic tension in her paintings.[4] Occasionally, the paintings incorporate religious symbology; such as lambs or angels, referencing the canon of religious painting.[4] In 2017, Ellis presented "Lick Shot" at 47 Canal, her first solo show in New York City.[5] In 2018, Ellis participated in the New Museum Triennial - “Songs for Sabotage.”[4] Ellis was included in the 2019 Whitney Biennial curated by Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta.[1]

Selected exhibitions
  • 2017 - "You Catch More Flies With Arsenic Than Honey” - Club Pro, Los Angeles, California[6]
  • 2017 - "Cabin Fever" - BBQLA, Los Angeles California[7]
  • 2017 - Lick Shot” - 47 Canal, New York City[5]
  • 2017 - Prick Up Your Ears” - Karma International, Los Angeles, California[8]
  • 2018 - “Painting: Now & Forever, Part III” - Greene Naftali, New York City[9]
  • 2018 - Triennial: “Songs for Sabotage” - New Museum, New York City[10]
  • 2019 - Whitney Biennial 2019, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City[1]

Awards
  • Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant, 2018[11]
  • Stanley Hollander Award, 2018[12]

References
  1. "Whitney Biennial 2019". whitney.org.
  2. Sheets, Hilarie M. (2 February 2018). "Meet Six Disrupters at the New Museum's Triennial". The New York Times.
  3. Brown, Laura. "X-TRA". www.x-traonline.org.
  4. Cortbett, Rachel (13 February 2018). "5 Young Stars-in-the-Making From the New Museum's 'Songs for Sabotage' Triennial". artnet News.
  5. "Janiva Ellis "Lick Shot" at 47 Canal, New York •". Mousse Magazine (in Italian). 16 July 2017.
  6. "Proceed with caution: finding hope in the perils of You Catch More Flies with Arsenic Than Honey". 20 February 2017.
  7. Miranda, Caroline. "Datebook: Photos of adult babies, race and the public figure, and weaving Brazil's landscape". Los Angeles Times.
  8. Heinrich, Will (Aug 31, 2017). "What to See in Los Angeles Art Galleries This Week". New York Times.
  9. "Janiva Ellis (Contemporary Art Daily)". www.contemporaryartdaily.com.
  10. "2018 Triennial: Songs for Sabotage". www.newmuseum.org.
  11. "Janiva Ellis – Rema Hort Mann Foundation".
  12. "Rema Hort Mann Foundation Announces 2018 Emerging Artist Grantees for Los Angeles". www.artforum.com.
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