He received a BFA from Cornell University followed by postgraduate study at The New York Studio School. His work has been exhibited world-wide in both solo and group shows, and is included in public collections including The Brooklyn Museum, The Fogg Museum, The Ashmolean Museum and The National Fund for Contemporary Art, Paris. He has received the Purchase Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2004) and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (1991) and CAPS (now New York Foundation for the Arts, 1986). Ellis has written extensively on contemporary art for European and American publications including, Parkett, Tema Celeste, and Art in America. He has been an Associate and Contributing Editor of Art in America and edited for Artforum and Parkett Magazine (Switzerland). Ellis currently teaches Color in the Foundation Program at The Cooper Union School of Art.