Tribes. Honour. Celebration.
Origin. Authenticity. Integrity.
Land. Ocean. Space.
Gordon Ellis-Brown’s practice oscillates between social and environmental concerns ranging from ancient history to pop-culture, sustainability to space science; interests he credits to growing up in a seaside hotel in the 1970s, 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 print, paint, found imagery, raw and metallic pigments, photographic collage and resin, Ellis-Brown composes rigorously constructed compositions which recall 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, using iconic imagery, immersive colour 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 private collections throughout the world and he is a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists.
I have also exhibited twice at the RA Summer Exhibition (2013 and 2007).
My passion is in print making, working with pure colour, imagery and symbolism, combining various mediums and revealing unseen connections. In my latest series Final Frontier, a series of mixed media works combining paint, pigments, metallics and photography, I explore my fascination with humanity’s place in the universe, contrasting found 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, astronauts, the space race and Nineteenth-Century colonialism. With subtle humour I strive to lay bare the fragility and precariousness forever evident in human endeavour.
