ellen gallagher is an american artist. her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is held in the permanent collections of many major museums. her media include painting, works on paper, film and video. some of her pieces refer to issues of race, and may combine formality with racial stereotypes and depict "ordering principles" society imposes.gallagher was born on december 16, 1965 in providence, rhode island. referred to as african american, she is of biracial ethnicity; her father's heritage was from cape verde, in western africa (but he was born in the united states…