Days of Strange Grandeur
A Solo Exhibition by Seth Ellison
Hal Gomer Gallery
October 13, 2022 - November 23, 2022
RECEPTION - October 13, 2022 | 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Presenting new oil and mixed-media paintings, Days of Strange Grandeur showcases Philadelphia artist Seth D. Ellison’s unique and uncompromising vision of West Virginia, his childhood home. The echoes of the nostalgic and bucolic, of art traditions past, reverberate throughout Ellison’s work.His appropriative process leads him to draw from many diverse places, such as the 18th and 19th century European masters of agrarian landscapes, as well as the “hillbilly” comics and memorabilia that saturated America in the early and mid-20th century, which has become a catalyst for his darkly whimsical style. He then weaves his own contemporary autobiographical experiences into these references to create something both very personal and universal.
Seth Ellison was born in Beckley, West Virginia in 1984. His childhood was spent compulsively drawing Disney cartoons in preparation for his future career as an animator. It wasn’t until encountering the Louvre Museum in France and a magazine depicting the work of Philip Guston that he decided to become a fine artist. Seth graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2009 with a BFA and then from the University of the Arts in 2012 with an MFA. He currently lives outside of Philadelphia with his wife and two children.
