Clay Ellis, RCA
Clay Ellis was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, in 1955. He currently resides in Edmonton, where he has maintained a studio since 1981. Ellis has been included in numerous exhibitions in England, France, Spain, Botswana, the USA, and Canada. He has been a participant in many international workshops.
In 1995, while living in France, he co-organized Triangle France, an international artists workshop held at the l’Ecole d’Art de Marseille-Luminy. In 2003 he was the guest artist at the Emma Lake Workshop, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2006, he was invited to be an artist in residence and construct an installation in the Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.
He has given lectures at the University of Lethbridge, the University of Saskatchewan, the Georgian College, the Emily Carr School of Art and Design, and the New York Studio School. He is represented in private and public collections including the Mendel Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Canada Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona.
A Short Statement:
It is my studio practice to allow work to come from work – a daisy chain of images and objects -each new project is linked to the one preceding it, blending the refinement of process with changes in circumstance. The artifacts produced, while sharing a lineage, are distinguished by the moment in which they are made.
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Amuse-Bouches & Mintz, Peter Roberson Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2016 The Third Stake Esplanade Art Gallery, Medicine Hat, Alberta
2016 Sculptures at an Exhibition, Peter Roberson Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2014 Weaners, Culls, and Divvies, The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Grande Prairie, Alberta
2012 Simple Equations, Sticks, and Mascots for Dirty Little Cities, Peter Roberson Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2009 Related Articles, Peter Roberson Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2009 Eight miles of Barbed Wire, APT Gallery, London, UK
2007 Nappe Sacrée, Gallery One, Toronto, Ontario
2005 Eight Miles of Barbed Wire, Inaugural Exhibition, Esplanade Art Gallery, Medicine Hat, Alberta
2005 Remittance, Vanderleelie Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2004 New York Studio School, NY, (Installation in conjunction with the Evening Lecture Series)
2002 Postmarks and Memos, Gallery One, Toronto, Ontario; Harcourt House, Edmonton, Alberta
2000 The Works, Edmonton, Alberta
1994 Black & Greenberg Gallery, New York
1993 The Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
1983 The Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Select Group Exhibitions
2014 Fresh Paint, University of Alberta Museums
2014 90 x 90: Celebrating Art in Alberta Art Gallery of Alberta
2012 Venerator, Allan Ball, Chris Cran, Clay Ellis, John Freeman, Angela Inglis, George Littlechild, Jane Ash Poitras, Daryl Rydman, Art Gallery of Alberta
2009 Extreme Possibilities, Frances Barth, Clay Ellis, John Gibson, Joseph Marioni, Marjorie Minkin, Jill Nathanson, Thomas Nozkowski, Susan Roth, The Painting Center, New York, NY
2007 Color As Structure / Structure As Color, Jill Nathanson, Enrico Riley, Ann Walsh, and Clay Ellis, Lori Bookstein Fine Art, New York
2007 Aspects of Abstraction, FAB Gallery, University of Alberta
2006 Bag and Baggage, Galerie de l’Ecole superieure des beaux-arts, Marseille
2006 The Emily Carr School of Art, Vancouver August 2006
2006 2 x 2 , Clay Ellis and Karlis Rekevics, Jaffe-Friede & Strauss Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
2005 Spell, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskachewan
2005 The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario
2005 The Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, Alberta, The Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2002 The Body Disembodied: Vinent Barre, Willard Boepple, John Gibbons, and Clay Ellis, TheMacLaren Centre For the Arts, Barrie, Ontario
2003 Technicolour: Chris Cran, Geoffrey Hunter, Angela Leach, Chris Rodgers, Arlene Stamp, and Clay Ellis, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
2002 Five Degrees, 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2002 Selections from the Canada Council Art Bank, Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Ontario
2000 Materialism: Jonathan Forrest, Terry O’Flanagan, and Clay Ellis
2000 Art Placement Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1997 Peter Hide and Clay Ellis, Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
1996 The Berman Collection at the Johnson Atelier, Hamilton, New Jersey
1995 Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey
1995 Triangle France, Hôtel du Départment, Marseille, France
1994 Obscure Object (2 person exhibition), Littlejohn/Sternau Gallery, New York
1993 On Site, Phillip and Muriel Berman Museum, Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
1993 Lead and Follow: The Continuity of Abstraction/The Robert Loder Collection, Bede Gallery, Jarrow, Northumberland and Atlantis Gallery, London
1993 City of Poughkeepsie Sculpture Park, Poughkeepsie, New York
1990 Sculpture by Invitation, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta (also 1989, 88, 87, 86)
1989 Exotic Steel, Fine Arts Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
1989 Drawing Motivations, Glenbow Museum and Art Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
1987 Studio Watch (Valentin Tatransky, curator), Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
1987 Collaboration in Clay, Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta
1986 Hardingham Sculpture Workshop, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, England
1985 Sculpture City, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta Stockwell Depot, London, England
1985 Southern Exposure, (touring exhibition) organized by Alberta Culture
Collections
City of Vancouver Transalta, Calgary
Alberta Art Foundation Phillip and Muriel Berman Museum,
Canada Council Art Bank Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
City of Red Deer, Alberta City of Medicine Hat, Alberta
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
The Robert Loder Collectioon Lehigh Valley Hospital Collection, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain Triangle Trust, New York
National Gallery of Botswana Sant Pere de Villamajor, Spain
University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta Westburne Collection, Montreal, Quebec
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
WORKSHOPS AND SYMPOSIA
2002 Guest Artist: Emma Lake Artists Workshop, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan
2002 Invited Artist: Triangle Artists’ Workshop, Brooklyn, New York
2000 Emma Lake Invitational Artists Workshop, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan
1994 Triangle France, Marseille, France (President of Triangle France and Participant)
1992 Mashomack Workshop, Pine Plains, New York
1992 Workshop Leader: Thapong International Artists Workshop, Gaborone, Botswana
1990 Triangle Artists' Workshop, Pine Plains, New York
1989 Sant Pere Workshop, Sant Pere de Villamajor, Spain
1988 Sant Pere Workshop, Sant Pere de Villamajor, Spain
1987 Art Triangle Barcelona, (invitational workshop), Barcelona, Spain
1984 Collaboration in Clay Workshop, Edmonton, Alberta
1984 Hardingham Invitational Sculpture Workshop, Norwich, England
1985 Director: Medicine Hat Sculpture Symposium, Medicine Hat, Alberta
1982 Triangle Artists' Workshop, Pine Plains, New York
1981 Emma Lake Artists Workshop, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan
1980 Emma Lake Artists Workshop, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan
TEACHING
2004 Guest lecturer New York Studio School, New York, NY
2004 Guest lecturer University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge,
2003 Artist in residence Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario
2003 Guest lecturer Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alberta
2002 Guest lecturer University of Saskatoon, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
2001 Guest lecturer University of Alberta, Department of Sociology,
1986 Visiting artist Norwich School of Art, Norwich, England
1983 -99 Sessional Instructor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
Community
1995– 1997 Artshab board member, Edmonton
1994 – 2000 Advisor to the Friends of Medalta Board
2000 – 2002 Edmonton Art Gallery board member
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
City of Medicine Hat
City of Red Deer
City of Vancouver
City of Edmonton Red Deer Sculpture Symposium
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mary Reid, “Perceptions, Disconnections and Transitions,” Exhibition catalogue, Weaners, Culls and Divvies, 2014
Karen Wilkin, “The State of Sculpture,” The New Criterion, May 2014
Amy Fung, “Where the Magic Happens,” Vue Weekly, Edmonton, November 12, 2009
Mary Reid, Review of APT Gallery exhibition London UK, Border Crossings, Issue 111, Autumn 2009
Karen Wilkin, “Mass, Time, and Memory,” Sculpture, Vol.26, November, 2007
Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, 2007
Monika Burman, “Setting a Sacred Table,” MAG, Toronto, June 2007
Patricia Ainslie & Mary-Beth Laviolette, Alberta Art and Artists, 2007
Robin Laurence, “Show Carries Baggage of a Global Art World,” Georgia Straight, Vol. 40, August 24, 2006
Douglas MacLean, “Abstraction’s Bold New Face,” Galleries West, Summer 2006
Clint Burnham, “Baggage Handled With Care,” The Vancouver Sun, September 2, 2006
Mary-Beth Laviolette, An Alberta Art Chronicle, 2006
Gilbert Bouchard, “Straddling Borders of Sculpture, Painting,” Edmonton Journal, Oct 28 2005
Karen Wilkin, "New Directions in Modernist Sculpture," Sculpture, December 2004
Mary Reid, “The Body Disembodied,” Art City Magazine, Vol.6, Issue 4, 2004
Gilbert Bouchard, (review) "Technicolour," Edmonton Journal, March 28 2003
Karen Wilkin, "An Inadvertent Vanguard," The Hudson Review, Spring 2002
Karen Wilkin, "Reformalism, Clay Ellis’ Recent Sculpture," BorderCrossings, May 2002
Sky Glabush, "A Review of ‘Materialism," New West, July 2000
Charles Mandel, (review) The Works, The Edmonton Journal, July 9, 1996
Charles Mandel, "Rumbles of Discord," National Post, July 8 1999
Karen Wilkin, "At the Galleries," Partisan Review, Spring 1995
Jeanne C. Wilkinson, (review), The New York Review of Art, January-February 1995
Robert Taplin, "Clay Ellis at Black & Greenburg," Art in America, April 1995
George Melrod, "Reviews - New York," Sculpture Magazine, March 1995
Mary Schaffer, "Maquette," Sculpture Magazine, February 1994
Pauline Pinard Bogaert, "Ursinus Sculpture Show," Philadelphia Inquirer, June 26, 1994
Pherlayn Dove, "The Transformation of Discarded Ruins," Philadelphia Inquirer, June 13, 1994
Anonymous, "Museum Sculpture Exhibition," The Mercury, (Pennsylvania), May 25,1994
Myra Y. Goldfarb, "Cut from a Different Mold," Morning Call, Allentown, Penn, August 1994
Florence Schelzel, "Poughkeepsie Journal," August 1993
Lelde Muehlenbachs, "The Place of Sculpture," BorderCrossings, June 1993
Scott Morrison, "The Barcelona Triangle," Newsletter, (Edmonton) January 1998
Karen Wilkin, "Excerpts from a Triangle Journal" and Teresa Blanch, "Stimuli and Spaces," Art Triangle Barcelona Catalogue, 1987
Esperanza Rabal, "Art Triangle Barcelona," La Vanguardia, (Barcelona), July 2, 1987
Scott Morisson, "Reach for the Top," Newsletter, (Edmonton), June 1987
Susa Dasca, "Art Triangle Barcelona," Diari 16, (Madrid), May 20, 1987
Anna Guasch, "Art Triangle Barcelona," Diari de Barcelona, (Barcelona), May 31, 87
Stephen Hume, "Monumental Clay," Contact, December 1986
Charles Mandel, "Red Deer Sculpture," Newsletter, (Edmonton), December 1985
Terry Fenton and Russell Bingham, "Sculpture City," Update, (Edmonton), September 1985
Anita Elash, "Media," Alberta Report, July 15, 1985
Tom Phillips, "Albertans," Alberta Report, February 25, 1985
Katharine Dickerson, "Commissioning Visual Art," Alberta Culture, 1984
Russell Bingham, "Clay Ellis: New Sculptures," Update, (Edmonton) January 1983
Sandra Shaul, "Alberta," Newsletter, (Edmonton), December 1980