The Elizabeth River Project invites you to the opening reception of "Edge Effect," a unique exhibit exploring shorelines of the Elizabeth by Norfolk's JJJJJerome Ellis.

A multi-media artist who stutters, Ellis has exhibited from Venice to New York and was featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial as well as 2024 Tate Modern and the 2023 Venice Biennial.

“I held edge in my mind and let it soften into the image of an ecotone: an area of transition, of permeability. Ecotone, from the Greek oikos (home) and tonus (tension). A diverse, fertile area where two biomes overlap; whose inhabitants must thrive under a wide variety of conditions; whose inhabitants are thereby primed for adaptation and endurance. Within the context of ecology, this interaction between habitats is known as an edge effect.” - Claire Wahmanholm, Dear Human at the Edge of Time.

Ecotones – edges – are transition zones between ecosystems. These mixing edges, like the edges between land and water, are often ecologically rich and complex, home to species found nowhere else in the world. The wetlands in estuaries like the Elizabeth River are ecotones within an ecotone, an edge of land-water braiding along the edge of river-ocean. Their porous margins filter runoff pollution, absorb wave energy, and migrate with the rapidly rising sea. Wetlands store more carbon than any other ecosystem on earth.

Edge Effect surveys the wetlands of the Elizabeth River and the questions surrounding their future through the lens of JJJJJerome Ellis, interdisciplinary artist and stutterer. A commission generously donated by the artist, these photographs investigate the stutter as metaphor for temporal and ecological edge. Each exposure documents the length of time the artist stuttered on the plant’s name while thanking them. The shutter opens when the stutter begins and closes when it finishes, transforming a moment of distended speech into a visual testimony of gratitude and temporal inquiry.

This show explores this present moment of climate change as an ecotone of time, a temporal edge between collective action and consequence. What can stutters and shorelines teach us about how to live with grace on a fluxing boundary? What kinds of life, action, change, are only possible – necessary – in this edge?

The evening will include a meet-and-greet with the artist, a brief talk about their inspiration and process, special poetry readings from Poet Laureate of Virginia (Emerita) Luisa A. Igloria from Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change in the United States, and light refreshments.

Arrive early for an optional tour of the Ryan Resilience Lab at 4:00pm

All are welcome – Suggested minimum donation $10 per attendee to support a healthy Elizabeth River though not required in our commitment to providing equitable access to our river-related programming.

About JJJJJerome Ellis

JJJJJerome Ellis (any pronoun) is a disabled Grenadian-Jamaican-American artist, surfer, and person who stutters. The artist works across music, performance, writing, video, and photography.

Concepts that organize the artist’s practice include: unknowing, improvisation, inheritance, opacity, prayer, gap, contradiction, aporia, eternity, unpredictability, interruption, and silence. Ellis researches relationships among blackness, disabled speech, divinity, nature, sound, and time. The artist’s body of work includes: contemplative soundscapes using saxophone, flute, dulcimer, electronics, and vocals; scores for plays and podcasts; albums combining spoken word with ambient and jazz textures; theatrical explorations involving live music and storytelling; and music-video-poems that seek to transfigure archival documents.

JJJJJerome’s work has recently been presented by the Whitney Museum and National Sawdust (New York); Venice Biennale 2023; Haus der Kunst (Munich); Rewire Festival (The Hague); Schauspielhaus Zürich; Chrysler Hall (Norfolk, Virginia); MASS MoCA (North Adams, Massachusetts); the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); and Oklahoma Contemporary (Oklahoma City). They have received commissions from the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, The Shed, and REDCAT.

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the natural wonders of the Elizabeth River through the eyes of JJJJJerome Ellis. We look forward to seeing you there!

Special thanks to Bernstein's Gallery and Little Light Film Lab

Part of The Ryan Resilience Series
Made Possible by Virginia Natural Gas

Contact the host of Opening of Edge Effect by JJJJJerome Ellis