David Ellis’s newest exhibition, Mola Salsa explores process with 15 new works on paper and a new motion painting. Reflecting on images from his childhood in rural North Carolina, David draws animals, trees, clouds and images dear to him. For this exhibition Ellis engages the idea of the animal spirit to depict his ideas of transformation. Ellis also makes imagery derived from plumes of smoke and steam originally inspired by witnessing an active volcano. These linear works he calls “flow” also describes rivers, both above and below the surface. This language embodies his belief that no condition is permanent.
In the project room Ellis will show his most recent motion painting “Animal.” “Animal” is a 10-minute, high-definition, edition of 6, commissioned by Landmarks in Austin, Texas in 2010. Motion painting is a time based media technique that renders the process of painting into a cinematic experience.
In ancient Roman religion, mola salsa (“salted flour”) was a mixture prepared by the Vestal Virgins and used in every official sacrifice. It was sprinkled on the forehead and between the horns of animal victims before they were sacrificed, as well as on the altar and in the sacred fire. It was a common offering to the household hearth.
In his explorations of movement, change, and rhythm David Ellis effectively combines his talent for visual representation. By utilizing various elements of music making—collaboration, improvisation, timing, and repetition— Ellis enlivens his creative process and thus his viewer’s experience through intricate experimental videos and complicated kinetic sound sculptures. David Ellis has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, PS1, and the MOMA, New York to name a few. He looks forward to a forthcoming solo show this June in New York City, a solo booth project with Joshua Liner at Pulse, NY in March 2011, and an exhibition with Agnes B. before the end of 2011.
