Ellis’s edgy style of art is set to take urban art to a whole new level. Drawing on 30 years of graphic design experience within the advertising, publishing and brand development field, Ellis quite literally woke up one morning and decided it was time for a change of direction ; inspired by his love of the urban art movement the ‘Ellis project’ was created.
With a passion for art clear from a very young age (at the age of 8 Ellis used to paint pictures of famous kings and queens throughout history and have them displayed in morning assembly) the seeds were sewn and this led to a career in graphic design and ultimately Ellis, the artist, was born.
The work has evolved through a passion for strong graphic illustration and the stencil art movement, with influences from the likes of Antoni Tàpies, Mark Rothko, Banksy and Blek Le Rat. However, the main driving force behind the work was street art and the way it looks and feels on the street. The challenge was to create a way of producing work that maintains this rawness and the texture when translated into print and fulfil the ultimate aim of bringing street art from the “outside in”.
Ellis’s artwork draws from iconic moments in history of any subject matter, which he then likes to add a twist to, or create a juxtaposition to challenge the viewer. These can be humorous, controversial (even shocking) or just plain ‘arty’ depending on what visually works for him. There are usually several messages within the work, but these are left to be seen by the eye of the beholder.
Ellis uses a variety of mediums to create his unique editions. Plaster, watercolour, sand, acrylic and gouache plus a few secret additions are all used to create these sensational pieces, and each one is different as they are all individually hand made, even down to the frame. The limited edition pieces differ in look from the unique editions but each one has been worked on extensively by Ellis to ensure they offer the same depth of image and retain their visual impact.