AxME

AxME, an exhibition of works by the African-American artist Ellen Gallagher (b. 1965) consisted of paintings, washes and paper cut-outs.

The name of the exhibition AxME is a play on words referring to the history and vernacular speech (”Ask me”) of the black population of the United States and is connected in a fascinating way with graphic form and significance. The exhibited works were loaned by the Tate Modern and other European and American institutions as well as private collections. The exhibition was assembled in close cooperation with the artist by the Tate Modern in London, from where it has come to Tampere and will then move on to Haus der Kunst in Munich. All three curators have collaborated with Gallagher in adapting the exhibitions to suit their own premises and prospective visitors.

Ellen Gallagher lives and works in New York and Rotterdam. Her subjects are the difficult past of the African-American people, popular culture, fashion, customs and the special quality of the vernacular language.