Mary Ellen Bartley

United States, 1959

Mary Ellen Bartley is a photographer whose work explores the tactile and formal qualities of the printed book and its potential for abstraction.  Painterly in style, Bartley’s photographs are concerned with geometry and pure form, their quietude providing a reflective response, a respite from a noisy and chaotic world.  At the same time, these works invite a certain curiosity, each asking what is it we see and what is it we don’t see?   

Bartley’s photographs have been exhibited at prestigious museums including The Queens Museum, The Walker Art Center, the National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology in Guatemala City and the Parrish Art Museum.  Her work has also been shown at the Houston Center for Photography, Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center and The Drawing Room.

Born in New York City, the artist earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at SUNY’s Purchase College and she lives and works in Sag Harbor, NY.