Darrel Ellis
Self-Portrait after photograph by Peter Hujar
1988
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Darrel Ellis
Self-Portrait after photograph by Peter Hujar
1988
Physical Qualities
Brush and black ink, wash, and charcoal on Asian-fiber paper mounted on canvas, Framed: 25 1/4 × 23 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (64.1 × 59.1 × 3.8 cm.)
Overall: 24 × 22 × 1 in. (61 × 55.9 × 2.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Purchase with exchange funds from the Pearlstone Family Fund and partial gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
Object Number
2019.159
Based on a photograph by Peter Hujar, Ellis drew this image with charcoal and ink on paper. He then mounted it to canvas using a slightly yellow, glossy adhesive and continued to work on the portrait. The interaction between wet and dry media on the creased surface produced a wrinkled, skin-like effect. Hujar died of AIDS-related complications in 1987. Here, Ellis both honored a departed colleague and reappropriated his self-image to emphasize psychological complexity over the sensuality of Hujar’s photograph.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 2019; OSMOS
Leslie Cozzi, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Darrel Ellis: Regeneration," November 20, 2022 - April 23, 2023; tour to The Bronx Museum of Arts, The Bronx, New York, May 24 - August 27, 2023; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 20, 2023 - January 14, 2024; Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina, February 17 - May 12, 2024.
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