Duets is a series of publications by Visual AIDS that pairs artists, activists, writers, and thinkers in dialogues that examine their own creative practices or the work of others in a larger social context. In this volume, artists and activists Stephen Andrews and Gregg Bordowitz speak frankly about their lives, painting, poetry, cosmology and survival; their discussion is introduced by writer Lynne Tillman. These engaging and highly readable conversations highlight the connections between communities of artists and activists. This series continues Visual AIDS' mission to support, promote, and honor the work of artists with HIV/AIDS and the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement.

Duets: Stephen Andrews & Gregg Bordowitz in Conversation

Gregg Bordowitz

Stephen Andrews

Visual AIDS, New York

Review\nAddresses the myriad components of identity through patrimony, race, self-perception, and aesthetic tampering. -- Sarah Moroz ― Bookforum\nDarrel Ellis made a wrenchingly heartfelt body of work based on his late father’s photographs. They’ve remained obscure until now. -- Chris Wiley ― New Yorker\nDarrel Ellis is not only the first book devoted to his work since 1996, it is also an indispensable collection of scholarship, history, interviews, and stunning reproductions of the artist’s oeuvre. The impressive essays by Derek Conrad Murray and Tiana Reid, a description of the artist’s archive by Steven G. Fullwood, an eye-opening interview with the artist from 1991, and a thought-provoking conversation between contemporary artists will lift the shroud of mystery that has surrounded Ellis’s life and art. -- Peter Murphy ― ASAP/J\nRather than showcasing his best-known works, such as his self-portrait made after a photograph by Mapplethorpe, it instead leans into process, including unfinished works, pages of journals, and a section that considers how to treat the archive he left behind after his 1992 death at age 33 from AIDS complications. -- Megan Liberty ― Hyperallergic\nThe first monograph on Darrel Ellis' expressive transformations of photographic memory 
Known for his experimental approach to painting and photography, New York–based mixed-media artist Darrel Ellis (1958–92) explored the psychic terrain between surface, memory and lyric self-representation. Working in part from his late father’s photographs, Ellis projected, deconstructed and reimaged his family history, creating uncanny portraits marked by voids and warps. His commitment to the self-portrait was no less inspired, particularly after his experiences of being photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe and Peter Hujar. Ellis was on the cusp of major recognition when his life was cut short by AIDS in 1992, at the age of 33. 
This monograph provides the most comprehensive account of the artist to date, including 80 plates that chart his development from figurative painting to photographic experimentation and his later preoccupation with self-portraiture. Essays and an illustrated chronology featuring previously unseen excerpts from the artist’s journals provide new insights into Ellis’ life and work.

Darrel Ellis

Arts & Photography

Individual Artists

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Books by Visual AIDS, New York

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Duets: Stephen Andrews & Gregg Bordowitz in Conversation

Darrel Ellis