By Achilles’ Tomb: Elliott Hundley and Antiquity @ SBMA
Elliott Hundley, By Achilles' Tomb, 2009. Expanded polystyrene, wood, plastic, epoxy putty, pins, paper, photographs. willow, bamboo, string, wire, spray paint, found wax vessel. Hammer Museum. © Elliott Hundley.
Elliott Hundley, tearing flesh from the bone, 2011. Wood, metal, plastic, rope, found upholstery coils, goat hooves, metal leafing, pinecones, lobster legs, feathers, epoxy. SBMA, Gift of L.L.W.W., 2024.2. © Elliott Hundley.
Detail of Elliott Hundley, tearing flesh from the bone, 2011. Wood, metal, plastic, rope, found upholstery coils, goat hooves, metal leafing, pinecones, lobster legs, feathers, epoxy. SBMA, Gift of L.L.W.W., 2024.2. © Elliott Hundley.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is organizing a mid-career solo exhibition with Elliott Hundley and has also invited him to rethink the display of Greco-Roman antiquities in SBMA’s Ludington Court. Hundley has long engaged with ancient Greece, especially tragedies, such as Medea (431 BCE) or The Bacchae (405 BCE). While Proscenium will survey Hundley’s work through the lens of the stage, backdrops, and actors, By Achilles’ Tomb juxtaposes the Museum’s renowned collection of antique sculpture and glassware with Hundley’s sculptures, paintings, and newly made collages. These two presentations reveal his deep connections with ancient history and literature, and an ability to transform humble and castoff materials into bewitching artworks of great delicacy and captivating visual density.
Both exhibitions show Hundley imagining a world that is an alternative to one we exist in, one where the ancient Greek gods are still worshipped, where gravity is defied by floating rocks and columns, or where stickpins, paper, feathers, goat hooves, and spangles have been amassed into an impossibly complex and impractical confection held together by a miracle.
On view in conjunction with Proscenium: Elliott Hundley.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art Presents Mid-Career Exhibitions by Los Angeles Artist Elliott Hundley Opening April 20, 2025
Proscenium: Elliott Hundley
Through August 31, 2025
By Achilles’ Tomb: Elliott Hundley and Antiquity @ SBMA
Through February 22, 2026
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art will present an extensive mid-career exhibition of work by Elliott Hundley including an innovative installation rethinking the current display of Greco-Roman antiquities in the Museum’s Ludington Court. Proscenium (through August 31, 2025), a broad survey, sees his work through the lens of theater, props, sets, and backdrops. It brings together 50 artworks dating from 2000 to 2025, including paintings, collages, assemblages, bronzes, drawings, rarely seen early works, and loans from private collections. In By Achilles’ Tomb (through February 22, 2026), he rethinks and mischievously upends the display of Greco-Roman antiquities in SBMA’s Ludington Court. Long fascinated by the plays of Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC), especially Medea (c. 431 BC), The Bacchae (c. 405 BC), and Hekabe (c. 424 BC), and ancient Greco-Roman culture and myths, he is an ideal artistic partner to reshape the Museum’s most prominent and public space, which opens onto Santa Barbara’s pedestrianized State Street.
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Lansdowne Hermes Roman, First half of 2nd century CE. Marble. Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Gift of Wright S. Ludington.
Elliott Hundley, By Achilles’ Tomb. 2009. Expanded polystyrene, wood, plastic, epoxy putty, pins, paper, photographs, willow, bamboo, string, wire, spray paint, and found wax vessel. Courtesy of Hammer Museum, Los Angeles Purchase.
Elliott Hundley, tearing flesh from bone, 2011. Wood, metal, plastic, rope, found upholstery coils, goat hooves, metal leafing, pine cones, lobster legs, feathers, and epoxy. Santa Barbara Museum of Art Gift of L. L. W. W.
Elliott Hundley, Troy to the Dirt, 2009. Oil on linen on canvas. Elliott Hundley Collection.
Elliott Hundley, W.A. 1959, 2011. Oil on linen on panel. Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Flask Roman, Eastern Mediterranean, 100-300 CE. Glass. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Gift of Lois and Richard Gunther.
Perfume Flask (Alabastron) Eastern Mediterranean, 525-400 BCE. Glass. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Gift of Lois and Richard Gunther.
Elliott Hundley Alessandro Seated, 2000. Collage on paper, color photocopies, found paper, and glue. Elliott Hundley Collection.
Elliott Hundley The Crawling Eye, 2015. Inkjet print on kitakata, paper, parabolic reflector, metal, gouache, string, photographs, pins, plastic, sound board, and wood. Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Elliott Hundley Untitled, 2010. Collage Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Elliott Hundley Buried Alive!, 2015. Oil, linen, paper, pins, photographs, found embroidery, foam, and wood. Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Elliott Hundley Tiered Sounds, 2017. Paper, oil, fabric, pins, plastic, glass, shells, lotus pods, metal, foam, and linen on panel. Private collection.
Elliott Hundley Still Life With Table (Blue), 2015. Oil on linen. Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Elliott Hundley New Stratum, 2017. Oil and collage on linen. Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Elliott Hundley 15.2.22.1, 2022. Ink and collage on paper. Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
- Galleries:Ludington Court,
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