Known as the founder of the international painting group The Barnstormers, David’s work weaves iconic imagery of the rural American south and urban north, while combining western technology with meditative eastern technique.

“Turntable Tree” and “Speaker Tree” were produced in 2005, while the artist focused on the creation of complicated sound machines—notably the Orchestrion series—exhibited at PS1, Cincinnati’s Contemporary Art Center, Raleigh’s Lump Gallery, and 222 in Philadelphia.

Both prints capture the conceptual ideas behind larger sculptural works while exploring the affordances of silkscreen and letterpress, respectively. “Turntable Tree” combines the coloration of classic rock posters with the inner workings of the “Boar’s Head / War’s Head” constructions. “Speaker Tree” evokes the imagery of Ellis’ Spazio installation in Milan and features a gorgeous white-on-white embossing of the tree’s upper arches.

2006 marked a major milestone for Ellis, with an outpouring of media sculpture and installations in Houston, Cincinnati, Savannah, and Philadelphia and 2007 holds great promise of wider visibility for his solo creations and his ongoing collaborations.

Find more information about David Ellis at his website: freshwatercatfish.org