Past Performing Arts | Music

Emily Wells

Artist sitting outstretched in a brick wall niche. She is a white person with long brown hair and wears white pants, a white t-shirt, and black boots.

Emily Wells and her ensemble visit the Wex to present Regards to the End, a beautifully layered new album that addresses the AIDS crisis, climate change, and the redemptive power of art.

Composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Emily Wells is known for blending classical and contemporary instrumentation, bridging the genres of pop and chamber music. She assembles songs with vocals, synths, drums, and piano, as well as string and wind instruments, creating haunting music that explores how humans relate to the natural world.

In Regards to the End, Wells explores environmental collapse, the AIDS crisis, and her lived experience as a queer musician through layered songs that are sparse yet powerful. Throughout the album, she references contemporary artists and activists who informed her work, including Félix González-Torres, Jenny Holzer, and Kiki Smith, connecting them across time through her music.

Interested in the way recording and performance influence one another, Wells will present the album with projections featuring intersecting imagery of contemporary dance, extreme weather, and the effects of the climate crisis. 

Related Event

DIVERSITIES IN PRACTICE ARTIST TALK
Emily Wells and Hanif Abdurraqib in Conversation
Film/Video Theater & wexarts.org
Thu, Nov 3 | 5 PM
Q&A follows
Free for all audiences (RSVP requested)

Learn more

"Like the artists and activists she memorializes, Wells herself creates art that speaks to the masses and extends heart-felt pleas for better."
VMP Magazine
Artist sitting outstretched in a brick wall niche. She is a white person with long brown hair and wears white pants, a white t-shirt, and black boots.

Emily Wells, photo: Rachel Stern.

Artist is standing vertically and gesturing in front of a colorful abstract painting

Emily Wells, photo: Rachel Stern.

Artist with tattoos on arm stands in profile in front of a colorful abstract painting, creating a dramatic shadow

Emily Wells, photo: Rachel Stern.

Artist in a beige suit sits on top of a chair in front of a brick wall

Emily Wells, photo: Rachel Stern.

More about the artist

Emily Wells chevron-down chevron-up

Composer, producer, and video artist Emily Wells’s evocative music (described as “visionary” by NPR) and performances (called “quietly transfixing” by the New York Times) impel listeners to be attuned. Her latest release, Regards to the End, is a work of radical empathy that foregrounds the power of art, critique, and care to connect and perhaps redeem us. Read more on the artist’s website.

PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council 
The Wexner Family
National Endowment for the Arts 
Ohio Arts Council
L Brands Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Nationwide Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Mike and Paige Crane
Axium Packaging
CampusParc
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
President Kristina M. Johnson and Mrs. Veronica Meinhard
Nancy Kramer
Larry and Donna James
Lisa Barton
Johanna DeStefano
Jones Day
Alex and Renée Shumate

Close

Past Performing Arts

Emily Wells