jjjjerome ellis: loops of retreat

25 may - 22 july, 2023

@ sweet pass sculpture park | 402 fabrication st. dallas, tx 75212

opening thursday, 25 may, doors at 6:00 pm

image credit: marc j. franklin

sweet pass sculpture park announces a new solo exhibition, jjjjjerome ellis: loops of retreat, a video installation in sp2 + live performance produced in collaboration with dallas contemporary.

in his album the clearing (2021), the artist imagines his block stutter to be a point of departure for examining the relationship between music, blackness, disabled speech, and time. ellis' stutter manifests as intervals of silence in his speech. he calls these intervals “clearings,” which shift from compositional tool to metaphor to disruptor of “conventional” time as the album unfolds. for this exhibition, the opening track from the album is presented as an immersive audio and video environment in sp2, sweet pass’ through musical and textual references alike, ellis expands on harriet jacobs’ concept of the “loophole of retreat,” exploring practices of refusal in black speech and music. ellis says of the clearing: “i hope this album offers the listener some of what my stutter offers me: an opportunity to imagine new ways of being in time.”

the installation is presented in conjunction with a live improvisation on 25 may at 7:00 pm (doors at 6:00 pm), produced in collaboration with dallas contemporary, which reflects ellis’ latest research into how themes explored in the clearing come into contact with ecology. drawing on materials collected for his forthcoming book aster of ceremonies (september 2023), ellis sensitively transforms archival material of so-called “runaway slave advertisements,” into an open-ended song for black ancestors moving through 19th century virginia. reimagining these figures as plants in bloom, he sings for their safety, considering the relationship between ecology and practices of freedom. jjjjjerome ellis: loops of retreat is curated by may makki.