In age we are contemporaries, but Ellen grew up as a child of a black African father and an Irish Catholic mother in Providence, Rhode Island. She seems to be an extremely commited and prolific politely activist artist. I was impressed at how she had cut out the eyes of hundreds of black women's faces in large collage grids and added yellow plasticine as hair, as if she could transform race with just a few artistic adjustments. She seemed to work in series with large numbers repeating a similar message. Thick lips and large eyes are common iconographs, which reappear regularly throughout her works. I recognised issues of racial and sexual inequality...but sadly, despite her huge influence in contemporary American art,
this exhibition did not help the viewer to get to know the artist behind the work and to appreciate some of her key messages...
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