Ellen Greene

I was born in 1975 and raised in the small college town of Lawrence, Kansas. The eclectic characters and ghosts of my hometown were my first inspirations. A lively bunch of intellectuals, hippies, punks, evangelical christians, frat boys and farmers all living on Native American prairie land, drenched in blood by the famous civil war massacre of Quantrill’s Raid. The town was buzzing with youthful energy, cultural agitation and creative artist.
There was a renegade style to my home life as well. My father’s blues bands practiced in the basement and my mother, a classically trained ballet dancer turned hairstylist was always sewing clothes and collecting beautiful objects for our home. My earliest impulses to be an artist were always supported and championed.
After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute with a degree in painting I embarked for a larger pond called Chicago where I now run my art studio. My work is still infused with the same hodgepodge low fi aesthetic instilled in my childhood; a quirky Americana aesthetic born out of contrasts, grown up in the midwest. DIY, folk art punk and tattoo motifs can be seen in my paintings and multimedia work.
I am mostly known for my painted vintage gloves with feminist body...

I graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1998 with a BFA in Painting.

Selected Exhibitions/Projects
Diesel Fashion Collaboration: Spring 2018 Paradigm Gallery “Deemed a Canvas” Philadelphia PA 2018 Northern Illinois University: “MOM” solo exhibition, DeKalb IL 2017 Aron Packer Projects: “Spiritual Garb”: Evanston IL 2016 Lindenwood University: “Murder Ballads”: solo exhibition, St. Louis 2015 Packer Schopf Gallery: “Murder Ballads”: solo exhibition, Chicago 2014 Maison Folie Wazemmems: “Epidurmiques #2”: Lille France 2013 Packer Schopf Gallery: “Invisible Mother’s Milk”: solo exhibition, Chicago 2012 Owen’s Art Gallery, Mount Allison University: “Tattoo”: New Brunswick, Canada 2012
Blue Gallery: “Nude”: Kansas City, MO 2012 
Firecat Gallery: “Ballad of the Tattooed Lady”: solo exhibition, Chicago, IL 2011 Northern Illinois University: “Inked: Tattoo Imagery in Contemporary Art” 2011 ...