The Seven Beggars: By Way of Possibility features the work of Jeffrey Ellse with a series of paintings made in response to an 18th-century Hasidic tale by Rebbe Nachman. The story follows the journey of a future king and two young children who encounter seven beggars, each offering a transformative lesson.
Ellse’s paintings work with an abstract visual language of meticulously rendered graphite bands overlaid with colorful graphic shapes, soft gradient fields, and three dimensional forms. Rather than illustrating the tale literally, he mirrors the openness of the story which itself resists logic, clear categorization, and any purely reductionist reading.
Having created a body of work in response to a story that has deeply moved him as both an individual and as an artist, this exhibition invites viewers into a visual encounter where art, text, and community enrich one another.
The Seven Beggars: By Way of Possibility
Jeffrey Ellse
January 7 - 31, 2026
These paintings were made possible with a CJP Arts and Community Impact Grant.
About the Artist
Jeffrey Ellse is a Boston-area artist who works in an abstract visual language built from meticulously rendered graphite bands overlaid with saturated colors and three dimensional shapes. His paintings explore transcendence, mystery, transformation, and the search for wholeness within paradox. Drawing on a diverse range of influences including Jewish mysticism, Hassidic folk tales, early computer graphics, and his own personal experiences, he weaves a network of intersecting elements that considers the space in-between.
Ellse received his BFA in 2006 and his MFA in 2009 from The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. He has been featured in group exhibitions at Tufts University, St. Botolph Club, Art Complex Museum, Samson Projects, and Lesley University. His work has been featured in the Boston Globe, Boston Phoenix, and Artscope Magazine. Ellse was an Artist in Residence at MBACC in 2020, and most recently a recipient of the CJP Arts & Culture Community Impact Grant in 2026. He has been adjunct faculty at Lesley University College of Art and Design and the New Hampshire Institute of Art, and currently mentors young creatives at Artists for Humanity in Boston, MA.