Ken Elias

Ken Elias was born in 1944 in Glynneath, West Glamorgan. From 1966 to 1969 he studied at Newport College of Art & Design, followed in 1969/70 by a PGCE-course at University College Cardiff . 1985-87 he did his MA in Fine Art at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff. He is a member of the Welsh Group and the Royal Cambrian Academy

Robert Meyrick wrote in 2000: "The paintings of Ken Elias are proudly autobiographical, like many writers and painters he has been compelled to comment upon memories of childhood experiences. Elias's paintings are consequently rich in symbolism and of deep personal significance to their maker. He employes objects and motifs that have a special association with, or for him have come to symbolise, his family, community and their domestic circumstances in Glynneath. Those who are dear to him are defined in his paintings by their interiors and possessions; things remembered, observed and distilled. Palm-patterned wallpaper, the television set, aunt Katy's torch and grandmother's semi-detached house are just some of the motifs that recur and link series of works exploring specific themes... The journey in time, to his formative years and the blue remembered hills of urban Glynneath, is itself important to Elias. The paper aeroplanes in the paintings symbolise travel back to these far-off places, but upon arrival also they may suggest escapism from post-war austerity to a world of Hollywood glamour and the children's pop-up books of his childhood. It is not surprising then to see Elias employ distinctive cinematic perspectives..."(Robert Meyrick, 'Ken Elias: The Pictures', 2000).

And there is no denying that some of Elias's paintings have an aura of the later Magritte in them such as Magritte's Transfer, 1966 and Beautiful World, 1962. Both painters were fascinated as children by mysterious objects eluding immediate comprehension; both loved the cinema. There is more here

Awards: 1978 Arts Council Editions Alecto Award; 1989 2nd prize winner Wales Opem; 1996 prize winner The Watercolour Soc.of Wales Open Exhibition; 1997 prize winner Aspects of Wales

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.

International Links:
exhibitions abroad=1997 'Art In Wales' European Parliament Strasbourg/France; 1999 Welsh Group touring exhibition Limerick & Dublin/Ireland; 2000 'Unterland Exhibition' Heilbronn/Germany; 2000/1 Libramont/Belgium; 2002 Meta: Imaging the Imagination, Arka Galerija, Vilnius/Lithuania; 2003 Contemporary Art from Wales, Mortagne-sur-Gironde/France; Gross Innovations Chicago/USA.