CONVERSATION STARTS AT 3PM Seating for the talk will be limited, so we encourage early arrival. A book signing of the exhibition catalog, which includes an essay by Leah Ollman, will follow the talk. About Sharon Ellis Sharon Ellis creates kaleidoscopic abstractions of the natural environment. Bridging the gap between 19th century Romantic painting and psychedelic art of the 1960’s, Ellis identifies as a contemporary landscape painter. Stars and atmospheric phenomena are made active as shimmering agents that create a circuit of energy running throughout the entire picture plane. Ellis takes us on a trip through a hallucinatory landscape and illustrative network of flora and fauna. Ellis received her M.F.A. from Mills College in 1984, and her B.A. from University of California, Irvine. Her work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT. Ellis’ work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the world including: Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2022); Orange County Museum of Art Biennale (2022); Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (1993-2018); MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (2016); the El Segundo Museum of Art; El Segundo, CA (2015); Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, NY (2011); The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2007); and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands (2000). Her work has also been reviewed by numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Art Review. About Leah Ollman Leah Ollman has been writing about art for more than 35 years. Her reviews and features have appeared regularly in the Los Angeles Times and Art in America, as well as in Photograph, The Brooklyn Rail, Paris Review Daily, Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles (CARLA), ARTnews, American Craft, and many other publications. She has written essays for books on William Kentridge, Alison Rossiter, Julie Blackmon, Michael Light, Chris McCaw, Klea McKenna, Michal Chelbin and others, and contributed to numerous exhibition catalogues. Since 2018, she has served annually as a judge for the James Beard Awards. She earned her M.A. in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Scripps College. Her book, Ensnaring the Moment: On the Intersection of Poetry and Photography, was released by Saint Lucy Books in 2025.