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Untitled (Uncle Joseph Tansle)

Darrel Ellis

Photography

Darrel Ellis’s works repurpose and distort photographs taken by his father, Thomas Ellis, who was killed by police weeks before his son’s birth. Upon discovering this cache of prints and negatives showcasing everyday Black life in 1950s Harlem and the Bronx, Ellis warped the images and documented them anew, creating a powerful translation of memory, mourning, and unattainable family histories.

Ellis died from AIDS-related illnesses when he was thirty-three, the same age his father was when his life, too, was tragically cut short.
MEDIUM Gelatin silver print
DATES ca. 1990
DIMENSIONS image: 19 1/4 × 15 3/4 in. (48.9 × 40 cm) sheet: 19 7/8 × 23 7/8 in. (50.5 × 60.6 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Photography
ACCESSION NUMBER 2020.7.1
CREDIT LINE Purchased with funds given by the Charina Endowment Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Darrel Ellis (American, 1958–1992). Untitled (Uncle Joseph Tansle), ca. 1990. Gelatin silver print, image: 19 1/4 × 15 3/4 in. (48.9 × 40 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by the Charina Endowment Fund, 2020.7.1. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , CUR.TL2020.5.1_frame.jpg)
IMAGE overall, CUR.TL2020.5.1_frame.jpg., 2020
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT © Darrel Ellis
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Darrel Ellis (American, 1958–1992). <em>Untitled (Uncle Joseph Tansle)</em>, ca. 1990. Gelatin silver print, image: 19 1/4 × 15 3/4 in. (48.9 × 40 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by the Charina Endowment Fund, 2020.7.1. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , CUR.TL2020.5.1_frame.jpg)