Ellen Lesperance mines history to uncover narratives about courageous, ideological women: activists, warriors, outliers. Recent scientific evidence calls into question the mythic status of Amazons and the so-called Land of Feminye. Analysis of mound burial sites across the steppes north of the Black Sea has revealed that ancient Scythian tribes may indeed have had less defined gender roles for men and women, making ancient, horse-mounted warrior women a historical possibility. Why these women chose to wear such distinctive dress encoded with particular motifs remains a mystery. However, by interpreting their garments through knitwear patterns, Lesperance effectively commemorates the individuality of each woman, fusing past, present, and future into one unconventional portrait.
Ellen Lesperance (b.1971) lives and works in Portland, Oregon. She had recent solo exhibitions entitled Amazonknights at ICA Miami and Velvet Fist at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and has been included in group shows at The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Frye Museum Seattle, ICA Boston, Bonniers Konsthall Stockholm, The New Museum of Contemporary Art New York, and KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION, Düsseldorf. Lesperance received a 2022-23 Global Scholar Fulbright Award and a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship. This will be her third show at the Gallery.
https://www.derekeller.com/exhibitions/ellen-lesperance3/press-release