Brandon S. Gellis
Department of Visual Arts
Associate Professor, Visual Communication Design
M.F.A., University of Denver, 2015
B.A., University of California at Santa Cruz, 2002
Originally from Los Angeles, Brandon S. Gellis earned his BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and MFA from the University of Denver. He is a New Media (Digital) Artist, Educator, and Maker. Since he joined the faculty in 2015, he has had solo and group exhibitions and presented written and creative research internationally. He has won multiple Juror's Choice Awards for his inventive, multi-modal artwork. His work explores identity, community, and complex systems. He is concerned with how people construct individual and community identities, develop networks rich with cultural memory, and exploit biological networks and communities.
Artist Statement
Brandon S. Gellis is a multimedia digital artist and educator in the United States. His practice interrogates the intersection of technology, art, and cultural identity.
Brandon synthesizes data-driven visual art, speculative narratives, and emerging media to explore the evolving digital sphere. His work critically examines the socio-political structures that shape cultural memory, cultural degradation, and technological mediation, inviting discourse on the ethical implications of our increasingly digitized world.
Beyond digital experimentation, his efforts include documenting and interpreting Street Art as a visual representation of cultural conflict. Most recently, he lived in Israel to study historical and contemporary facets of Israeli and Arab conflicts, including Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel. Brandon’s research investigates how urban visual culture reflects and amplifies political tensions, exploring how artists use public space to challenge authority, claim identity, and navigate contested narratives. This inquiry informs his broader artistic practice, deepening his engagement with the intersection of aesthetics, activism, and historical reckoning.
As an Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design at the University of Wyoming, his pedagogical philosophy is deeply intertwined with his artistic inquiry. Brandon cultivates a transdisciplinary environment where design, computation, and critical theory converge to challenge conventional modes of visual storytelling. By leveraging emerging digital methodologies, he seeks to construct speculative frameworks that reimagine the future of human-computer interaction, agency, and ecological responsibility.
At its core, Brandon’s work mediates the fluidity of perception, the complexities of cultural resilience, and the ethical dimensions of digital intervention. Through visually arresting compositions and immersive experiences, he invites audiences to question the narratives embedded within data, power structures, and the spaces we inhabit.
