Stephen Ellis

In this episode, David Humphrey discusses the intersection of music and visual art with New York painter Stephen Ellis. Ellis, whose artwork often explores themes of repetition and variation, shares how his creative process was inspired by a profound musical epiphany involving Wagner's "Parsifal". This led him to see parallels between music and painting, particularly in how time and rhythm influence perception. The conversation unveils Ellis's curated playlist, which features music that manipulates time in intriguing ways—from Robert Johnson's raw, bluesy freedom to Vivaldi's pyrotechnic Sinfonia. The episode also highlights a hauntingly beautiful piece by Marin Marais, exemplifying the slow, hypnotic qualities that resonate with Ellis's own artistic approach. Stephen Ellis is painter, an art critic, editor, and educator.  His paintings demonstrate an almost virtuosic attunement to color, while his grids and frames reference both Minimalism and a love of the film screen. Image: Untitled (2002), 2002. Courtesy of ⁠Cornell Alumni Archive.⁠