DeLuxe

Ellen Gallagher’s work exposes the ways in which various forms of media, such as literature, music, art, magazines, and films, use stereotypes of race and gender to perpetuate social customs of inequity. In DeLuxe, Gallagher repurposes and recasts material from African American magazines, such as Ebony and Our World, from the 1930s to the 70s. Employing numerous art-making techniques, including printmaking, embossing, and collage, Gallagher applies bright yellow Plasticine over faces and hair, scrapes out figures’ eyes, and engraves with a tattoo machine. The resulting sixty objects exhibit aesthetic and narrative qualities that push the boundaries of identity and nostalgia.