“From ancient symbolism to modern cultures, with vivid sensations of colour, composition and mark-making, I take visual references from the past to create new possibilities for the future.
I work instinctively, allowing the imagery, colours and materials to tell the story, blurring the lines between photography and painting, creating something which is greater than the individual parts.
My wish is to engage the viewer with art that elates, challenges or unsettles – work which empowers us to look into our souls to recognise something new or perhaps gain a deeper understanding of the fragile world around us.”
Gordon Ellis-Brown
Tribes. Honour. Celebration.
Origin. Authenticity. Integrity.
Land. Ocean. Space.
Gordon Ellis-Brown is a contemporary artist based in the United Kingdom, whose practice oscillates between social and environmental concerns covering ancient history, mythology and ritual, to pop-culture, space science and conservation. Growing up in a seaside hotel in the 1960s and 70s, his childhood memories were forged from American westerns, the Apollo space missions, revolutionary music and the unworldliness of television tropes broadcasting alien visitations. These early years immersed in influential images and sounds triggered a lifelong quest to create art which uncovers something beyond what we already see, expressing the inexpressible.
Working with original and found photography, paint, raw and metallic pigments, collage and traditional print processes, Ellis-Brown composes rigorously constructed compositions intuitively and with deep consideration, often recalling the aesthetic of advertising or product design. Ellis-Brown draws on his graphic design roots, pushing the limits of photography and iconic imagery, experimenting with immersive colour and reconnecting with the lost language of ancient symbolism.
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 strives for flawlessness in colour and form, while highlighting the unpredictability of traditional print processes and analogue film outputs, creating a conversation amidst these seemingly opposed positions as well as between notions of perfection and imperfection.
In Soul Shaker, Ellis-Brown responds to preconceived notions of the historical American West, incorporating ancient symbolism drawn from forms found in Native American petroglyphs. These bold compositions highlighting ancient and modern cultural signifiers seek to make a connection through deciphering codes and bold story-telling, playing with scale and dramatic hues.
Final Frontier is a series of mixed media works combining photography, paint, pigments and metallics. Ellis-Brown explores his fascination with humanity’s place in the universe, contrasting images of modern day space exploration with ancient marks conceived from the visual languages of indigenous people. Connections are drawn between classical deities and contemporary idealism, the space race and colonialism. Final Frontier lays bare the fragility and precariousness forever evident in human endeavour, as well as our quest to venture beyond our terrestrial boundaries.
Ellis-Brown’s collage and original photographic works can be affirmative and resurgent while also beguiling and challenging.
Ellis-Brown has exhibited in the UK and internationally, including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and 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.
Gordon Ellis-Brown’s practice includes private, public and corporate commissions.
All works are original, signed and dated.
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
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.