Gordon Ellis-Brown Painting

“Why do l love living with works by Ellis-Brown on my wall?
Maybe because they unlock a bank of potent images from my most informative years, when random TV stills or magazine cuttings imprinted themselves on my mind. They can belong to my own technicolour pop culture and to very distant ancestral tribes that I want to belong to. The Lone Ranger and cosmological rock drawings seem to shape us in equal measure.
Gordon takes these stranded images and with vivid sensations of blanket colour he feeds our voracious nostalgia. However, he continues to push the envelope of these cultural couplings and recently the tranced fields of pigment are agitating into textural frequencies that vibrate with our quest for collective identity. His work can be affirmative and resurgent but also beguiling and challenging.
I like to live with humour, adoration and wonder. That’s why I love living with Gordon’s works.”
Jesse Leroy Smith, Artist and Curator
Tribes. Honour. Celebration.
Origin. Authenticity. Integrity.
Land. Ocean. Space.
"From ancient symbolism to modern cultures, with vivid sensations of colour, composition and mark-making, I transform visual references from the past to explore and create new possibilities for the future."
Gordon Ellis-Brown is a contemporary artist based in the United Kingdom whose works have been exhibited globally. He works in mixed media including 2D, 3D, film and digital.
Gordon Ellis-Brown’s practice oscillates between social and environmental concerns ranging from ancient history, mythology and ritual to pop-culture, sustainability and space science; interests he credits to growing up in a seaside hotel in the 1960s and 70s, as well as childhood memories of American Westerns, the Apollo space missions and the unworldliness of television tropes broadcasting alien visitations.
Working with a range of media including paint, raw and metallic pigments, original photography, found imagery, collage, resin and traditional print processes, Ellis-Brown composes rigorously constructed compositions spontaneously and intuitively, often recalling the aesthetic of advertising or product design. 
Inspired by the creativity and spirituality of pre-modern cultures, Ellis-Brown explores humanity’s connection to the natural world, revealing hidden connections between conflicting cultural traditions and belief systems. Often working in diptych format, he creates a dynamic conversation between these seemingly opposed positions as well as between notions of perfection and imperfection; for example the use of pure painted colour and the idiosyncrasies of early printing processes.
Ellis-Brown draws on his graphic design roots, exploring the limits of photography and iconic imagery, experimenting with immersive colour and reconnecting with lost languages and ancient symbolism. Focusing on each image before relocating its context is a way of celebrating the enduring materiality of images whilst safeguarding the vulnerability of others. This dissonance subverts, disrupts and enriches our recognition of the visual world.
Ellis-Brown has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. His work is held in collections throughout the world. He is an Associate Member of The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (ARE) and a Member of Newlyn Society of Artists (NSA).
Gordon Ellis-Brown's practice includes private, public and corporate commissions. 
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS
• 'Rapture', Regency Town House, Brighton, 2023
• 'London Original Print Fair', Somerset House, London 2023
• ING Discerning Eye', Mall Galleries, London 2023
• 'NSA 125 Years, Past, Present, Future', Tremenheere Gallery, 2021
• 'Mark in Time', Jupiter Gallery, Penwith 2021 
• 'Summer Exhibition', Bankside, London 2021
• 'Summer Show', Noon Powell, London 2020
• 'RE Original Prints', Bankside, London 2020
• London Art Fair, Islington, London 2020
• ‘Soul Shaker', Chelsea Club, London 2019
• ‘NSA On Show', Tremenheere Gallery 2019
• ‘The Crossover’, Shoreditch, London 2019
• ‘The Other Art Fair’ (curated by Saatchi Art), London 2019
• ‘Malamegi Lab 13’, Piazza Di Pietra Gallery, Rome 2019 
• 'Wish You Were Here', Brighton 2019
• ‘Final Frontier’, The Moon Festival, Greenwich 2019
• ‘Sol Force’, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Cornwall 2019
• ‘Newlyn School of Art’, Chapel House Gallery, Penzance 2018
• ‘Sundance’, Angus Hughes Gallery, London 2018
• ‘The Other Art Fair’ (curated by Saatchi Art), London 2018
• ‘NSA on View’, Tremenheere Gallery, Penwith 2018
• ‘The Other Art Fair’ (curated by Saatchi Art), Brooklyn, NYC 2018
• ‘Newlyn School of Art Mentoring Show’, PZ Gallery, Penzance 2017
• ‘Come Rain Come Shine’, Beaux Arts Gallery, Mayfair, London 2017
• ‘Ten Years On’, Porthminster Gallery, St Ives 2017
• ‘465 Sunflowers II’, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London 2013
• ‘Wild West’, solo exhibition, Winchester 2011
• ‘Howdy’, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London 2010
• ‘Primal Prints’, Adam Street Member’s Club, London 2010
• ‘Sundance I’, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London 2007
• ‘Selected Photographs’, Hamiltons Gallery, London 2006
• ‘Light and Shade’, Southampton Art Gallery 2003
• ‘Moments’, Portsmouth 1998
SELECTED PUBLIC & PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
• 'LoneStar' - Diploma Print (RE), Ashmolean Museum, UK 2020
• ‘Soul Shaker’ - Bradshaw Foundation, UK 2011
• New York
• Australia
• Hong Kong
• Geneva, Switzerland
• Berlin & Munich, Germany
• Mallorca, Spain
• London, Oxford, Brighton, Newlyn, UK
EDUCATION & ACCREDITATION
• Associate Member of The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (ARE) 2020
• ‘Malamegi Lab 13’, Piazza Di Pietra Gallery, Rome 2019 (Winner - Catalogue Prize)
• Member Newlyn Society of Artists (https://www.nsanewlyn.com) 2019
• Mentoring Alumni Programme, Newlyn School of Art 2019
• Studio Practice Programme, Newlyn School of Art 2018
• Mentoring Programme, Newlyn School of Art 2017
• International Echo Award in Graphic Design
• IBM Bursary for Creativity in Photography
• Society of Industrial Artists & Designers (MSIAD)
• Society of Typographic Designers (MSTD)
• Graphic Design and Typography, Portsmouth University, 1978 - 1981
Copyright
All artworks, photographs and texts reproduced on gordonellisbrown.com are the sole property and copyright of Gordon Ellis-Brown and are legally protected by U.K. & international copyright laws. Under no circumstance may you download, reproduce, publish or distribute anywhere, in any medium, any of the images for commercial purposes, without proper and prior written permission from Gordon Ellis-Brown. Unauthorised duplication or usage for commercial purposes is prohibited by the Copyright law. Gordon Ellis-Brown retains copyright to all artwork on this site, regardless of whether or not the original image has been sold. Should you wish to use an image for commercial purposes please contact Gordon Ellis-Brown with details. 

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