Janiva Ellis

Born in 1987 in Oakland, California and raised by her white mother, Janiva Ellis moved to Hawaii at the age of seven. As a young Black woman growing up in a community with a small Black population, she felt isolated. Her artistic style is inspired by cartoons and features Black figuration set against abstract landscapes, rendered in oil on canvas with a rich, textured palette. In 2018, Ellis was awarded the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant and the Stanley Hollander Award. Her work can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Rubell Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, and Aïshti Foundation in Beirut.

Ellis has exhibited across the United States, including solo exhibitions at Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, 47 Canal in New York, and Arcadia Missa in London. She has also been featured in group exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial, New Museum Triennial: Songs for Sabotage, and Painting: Now and Forever, Part III.