Ken Elias

Ken Elias is one of Wales' leading artists. Born in 1944, into a working-class family in Glynneath, his childhood was formed during the 1950s. He attended art school in the 1960s, during the height of the Pop Art movement in the UK.[1]

Ken Elias
Born1944
Glynneath, South Wales
NationalityWelsh
EducationNewport College of Art & Design (now the University of South Wales) (BA Fine Art )
University College Cardiff (PGCE)
UWIC (MA Fine Art)
Known forPainting
MovementPop Art

Artwork

Ken Elias's work is held in a number of public collections, including the National Museum of Wales, the National Library of Wales, the Arts Council of Wales, Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery and the Contemporary Arts Society of Wales.[2][3][4]

Using acrylic paint, photomontage and mixed media, Elias creates powerful, striking images, with strong shapes and contrasting colours. Influenced by the memories of family and cinema during his 1950s childhood[5] and his love of poetry and art, his work uses memory and imagination, responding to and drawing inspiration from global issues and currents, while also being strongly rooted in the visual language of the south Wales valleys.[1][5][6]

In 2009 the National Library of Wales launched a touring retrospective exhibition of his work titled; Ken Elias: A Retrospective – A celebration of 40 years of painting[1][7] alongside a publication by Seren Books, edited by Ceri Thomas; Ken Elias: Thin Partitions'.[8][9]

In April 2013, Elias' work was included in a major exhibition at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, titled Pop and Abstract, alongside work by David Hockney, Peter Blake, Allen Jones, Bridget Riley and others.[10][11][12]

He is a member of both The Welsh Group[13][14] and the 56 Group Wales.[15]

Public collections

International exhibitions
  • 1997 Art in Wales, European Parliament, Strasbourg, France.
  • 1999 Touring exhibition by The Welsh Group to Limerick and Dublin, Ireland.
  • 2000 Unterland Exhibition, Heilbronn, Germany.
  • 2000/2001 Libramont, Belgium.
  • 2002 Meta: Imaging the Imagination, Arka Galerija, Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • 2003 Contemporary Art from Wales, Mortagne-sur-Gironde, France.
  • 2003 Gross Innovations, Chicago, USA.[3]
  • 2013 The Welsh Group in partnership with American group ISEA, National Watercolor Society Gallery, San Pedro, CA, USA and BIG Arts, Sanibel Island, FL, USA.[17]
  • 2014 Yma Ac Acw / Hier Und Da / Here And There - The Welsh Group in partnership with German group BBK, Hilden and BBK Kunstforum Gallery, Duesseldorf, Germany.[18]

Publications
  • Ken Elias: Thin Partitions, edited by Ceri Thomas, foreword by Dai Smith, together with essays by Hugh Adams, David Briers, Jon Gower, Anne Price-Owen and Ceri Thomas. Seren, 2009.[19][9]

References
  1. "Ken Elias: A Retrospective - A celebration of 40 years of painting". Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Ken Elias". Artinwales.250x.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  4. 6 paintings by or after Ken Elias, Art UK. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  5. "Ken Elias". Wai.org.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  6. "BBC – Blogs – Wales – Thin Partitions – artist Ken Elias". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  7. "Ken Elias: A Retrospective". Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  8. "Ken Elias: Thin Partitions – Seren Books". Serenbooks.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  9. "Ken Elias Thin Partitions". Gwales.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  10. "Pop and Abstract". visual culture wales. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  11. "Pop art of Wales back on display". walesonline. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  12. "Pop and Abstract – What's On – National Museum Wales". Museumwales.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  13. http://www.thewelshgroup-art.com/#!ken-elias/ccph
  14. "The Welsh Group: Ken Elias". Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  15. "Ken Elias". Welshgroup.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  16. "Art UK – Ken Elias". Art UK. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  17. https://www.thewelshgroup-art.com/american-exchange
  18. https://www.thewelshgroup-art.com/german-exchange
  19. "Ken Elias: Thin Partitions – Seren Books". Serenbooks.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
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