In preparing for her exhibition at the Carpenter Center, Oakland-born, NYC-based Janiva Ellis reengaged with paintings that had remained unfinishable in her studio for years, floating in and out of her consciousness. The artist has called these “dust bunny ideas”—hard-to-resolve paintings that settle into corners of her studio to be continuously reworked, with long breaks in between. As a result, much has changed in the world during their long gestation. Fear Corroded Ape asks what it means to assemble a group of “unresolvable” images.
