Ken Elias
{{Short description|Welsh artist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Ken Elias
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1944
| birth_place = Glynneath, South Wales
| death_date =
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| nationality = Welsh
| field = Painting
| training = Newport College of Art & Design (now the University of South Wales) (BA Fine Art )
University College Cardiff (PGCE)
UWIC (MA Fine Art)
| movement = Pop Art
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| influenced by =
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Ken Elias is a Welsh artist. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1513&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2509&cHash=4df3de4c3bec80263632f784cd7f2583 |title=Ken Elias: A Retrospective - A celebration of 40 years of painting|accessdate=11 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706093953/http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1513&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2509&cHash=4df3de4c3bec80263632f784cd7f2583 |archivedate=6 July 2013 }}
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.casw.org.uk/english/acquisition_details.aspx?acquisition_id=1495 |title=Welcome to CASW | art wales, contemporary art, welsh art, casw, art society |accessdate=2013-07-11 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130711161818/http://www.casw.org.uk/english/acquisition_details.aspx?acquisition_id=1495 |archivedate=11 July 2013 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web|url=http://artinwales.250x.com/ArtistsElias.htm |title=Ken Elias |publisher=Artinwales.250x.com |accessdate=15 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522183313/http://artinwales.250x.com/ArtistsElias.htm |archivedate=22 May 2014 }}{{Art UK bio|retrieved=15 October 2014|ref=1}}
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{{cite web|url=http://www.wai.org.uk/index/publications/imaging-wales/ken-elias|title=Ken Elias|publisher=Wai.org.uk|accessdate=14 October 2014}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/posts/thin_partitions_ken_elias|title=BBC – Blogs – Wales – Thin Partitions – artist Ken Elias|date=22 October 2009|publisher=Bbc.co.uk|accessdate=15 October 2014}}
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{{cite web |title=Ken Elias: A Retrospective |url=http://welshdrawings.creativemessage.com/Newsletter.aspx?s=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&l=2&n=1&i=41&c=0&a=166&o=0 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130711161743/http://welshdrawings.creativemessage.com/Newsletter.aspx?s=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&l=2&n=1&i=41&c=0&a=166&o=0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 July 2013 |accessdate=11 July 2013 }} alongside a publication by Seren Books, edited by Ceri Thomas; Ken Elias: Thin Partitions'.{{cite web|url=http://www.serenbooks.com/book/ken-elias-thin-partitions/9781854115010|title=Ken Elias: Thin Partitions – Seren Books|publisher=Serenbooks.com|accessdate=15 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023120151/http://www.serenbooks.com/book/ken-elias-thin-partitions/9781854115010|archive-date=23 October 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gwales.com/goto/biblio/cy/9781854115010/?session_timeout=1|title=Ken Elias Thin Partitions|publisher=Gwales.com|accessdate=15 October 2014}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://huwdavidjones.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/pop-and-abstract/|title=Pop and Abstract|work=visual culture wales|date=25 April 2013|accessdate=15 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/pop-art-wales-back-display-2493961|title=Pop art of Wales back on display|work=walesonline|date=9 March 2013|accessdate=15 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/whatson/?event_id=6480|title=Pop and Abstract – What's On – National Museum Wales|publisher=Museumwales.ac.uk|accessdate=15 October 2014}}
He is a member of both The Welsh Group{{Cite web|url=http://www.thewelshgroup-art.com/#!ken-elias/ccph|title = Home | Hafan}}{{cite web|url=http://welshgroup.co.uk/KEindex.htm |accessdate=11 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107215446/http://welshgroup.co.uk/KEindex.htm |archivedate=7 November 2013|title = The Welsh Group: Ken Elias}} and the 56 Group Wales.{{cite web|url=http://56groupwales-art.co.uk/KEIndex.htm|title=Ken Elias|publisher=Welshgroup.co.uk|accessdate=15 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731181914/http://56groupwales-art.co.uk/KEIndex.htm|archive-date=31 July 2012|url-status=usurped}}
Public collections
- National Museum of Wales
- National Library of Wales
- Arts Council of Wales
- Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery
- West Wales Arts Association
- Bangor College Normal
- Contemporary Arts Society of Wales
- Carmarthen County Museum{{cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artists/elias-ken-b-1944|title=Art UK – Ken Elias|publisher=Art UK|accessdate=15 October 2014}}
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.
- 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewelshgroup-art.com/american-exchange|title = The Welsh Group | American exchange}}
- 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewelshgroup-art.com/german-exchange|title = The Welsh Group | German exchange}}
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.
References
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Category:20th-century Welsh painters
Category:21st-century Welsh painters
Category:21st-century Welsh male artists
Category:Members of The Welsh Group
Category:Alumni of the University of Wales, Newport
Category:People from Neath Port Talbot