Angela Ellsworth: Underpinnings in Multimedia

For the opening of her show "Underpinnings" at the Lisa Sette Gallery, Angela Ellsworth had performance actors dressed as members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints and acting out performance works from the 1960s, 70s and 80s by famous women performance artists. Writer Kathleen Vanesian describes the scene in...

By Jonathan McNamara

January 9, 2009

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18478561",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "16759093",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759092",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759094",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        }
      ]

For the opening of her show "Underpinnings" at the Lisa Sette Gallery, Angela Ellsworth had performance actors dressed as members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints and acting out performance works from the 1960s, 70s and 80s by famous women performance artists.

Writer Kathleen Vanesian describes the scene in "Artist Angela Ellsworth Channels Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith and Makes a Point in Sette Gallery's Underpinning:"

"Moving like zombies through the throngs of gallery visitors, each sister wife was armed with an object taken from one of the performance pieces illustrated by Ellsworth's embroidered drawings and would act out salient parts of the old performance pieces. Unsuspecting passersby were completely stunned and confused when they would happen upon a sister wife delicately clutching a knife or machine gun or stuffing a rag in her mouth, all of which objects were black."

See more shots from "Underpinnings" in this slide show.

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.