Chelsea, New York
Scott Daniel Ellison
An Oak Tree Hollow
New Discretions“A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know.” ―Diane Arbus New Discretions is proud to present An Oak Tree Hollow, a solo presentation of new pictures by artist Scott Daniel Ellison in the front room of the gallery. A self-taught painter, Ellison’s affinity for worldbuilding and curiosity for the obscure are both central to his practice. The works included in An Oak Tree Hollow depict a series of fictional narratives imbued with child-like fervor and driven by a cast of ominous characters. The witches, ghosts and forest creatures who occupy Ellison’s works present themselves as both sinister and endearing, lingering on the edge of becoming. For An Oak Tree Hollow, Ellison has created a suite of stylized paintings instinctively based on his childhood home in upstate New York. The series is uniquely characterized by Ellison’s restrained black-and-white palette, which sets a distinctly moody, cinematic tone. Ellison references Diane Arbus, Nancy Rexroth, and Ralph Eugene Meatyard as inspiration. The absence of color additionally serves as a reference to time or memory – alluding to experiences, places or dreams the artist encountered as a child. Stephen King once noted that utilizing black-and-white increased fear and suspense. So it is with Ellison's neighborly nightmares. On the title of the exhibition, Ellison stated: “I often sat alone in the woods by a large dead oak that had a hole/hollow in it — I would throw bits of food in it hoping some animal lived in there. It was rumored to be a colonial era hangman’s tree.” Scott Daniel Ellison has exhibited extensively throughout the United States, in Stockholm and Australia. He's been awarded several fellowships including the esteemed "Fellowship in Painting" by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. His work is held internationally in many private collections. In the main gallery, Situations presents Loop Hole, a solo exhibition by Alejandra Seeber.