© 2022 Sheila Elias, Joshua Elias and Joyce Elias. All rights reserved. The book author and artists retain sole copyright to their contributions to this book. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without prior permission in writing. Catalog designed by Karen M. Gutfreund, @karengutfreundart
famil-E and Nature vs Nurture
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction..…..7
Sheila Elias.......8
Joshua Elias.....19
Joyce Elias.....27
Installation Shots from The Art Center.....37
Artist Resumes.....46
Protest Projects.....185
Artist Directory.....191
Artist Index.....195
Books and Galleries.....197
El Fin
INTRODUCTION
famil-E and Nature vs Nurture
Sheila Elias
Joyce Elias
Joshua Elias
“The three of us have always had a psychic connection and it is powerful.” A statement by one and all.
Artistically, each artist creates works that are uniquely their own. What is shared is a body of work that emanates an energy, rife with a strong sense of harmony, expressed through color, form and movement.
Sheila Elias has always encouraged her children to trust their sense of individualism as well to impress everything they are upon everything that they do. No holding back.
She walks that walk as exemplified in her latest Sultana and the Butterflies. Whimsical, rhythmic, and jocular, this painting is a large and inviting carnival of color.
Joyce Elias has a more tribal tone, with collage cutouts, shown in grids. The work is impeccably rendered, and delicately braided with boldly-painted, colored paper cutouts as well as canvases echoing the collage creations.
Joshua Elias work hovers in fields of colors, with resting spots with layered colored oils, visual storytelling, that invite the viewers to engage and connect. The works reads heroic and indirectly are influenced by Greek mythology the Elias family a few generations back are Greek.
The initial show idea was born of a dialogue between Joyce Elias and her mother Sheila Elias as an idea for a three person show including Joshua Elias.
Joyce was at the gallery for an exhibition and said to herself. “This, this is the space.”
The actual exhibition was further envisioned by the exceptional curatorial execution by Senior Curator as the Art Center Highland Park, Caren Rudman.
All three highly intuitive artists, together shared a trust that this would in fact work.
Sheila Elias (Mom), Joyce Elias, and Joshua Elias work independently in three separate cities Sheila in Miami, Joyce in Evanston (Chicago) and Joshua in Los Angeles.
After several hiccups in scheduling because of the pandemic, the show did happen and it happened big.
Hope and positivity flourishes, inspires and connects with a focal point on optimism and light, as well as a sense of humor implied in their artwork.
There lays a seed that creates a foundation for healing and encourages the viewer to journey. The Nature of this very quality and The Nurture of family connection makes for a dynamic visual feast.
by Joshua EliasSheila Elias
Miami, FL
www.sheilelias.com
@sheilaeliasart
Originally as an undergraduate from the Art Institute of Chicago, I moved to LA, where I received my Masters of Fine Art (MFA) as a painter, photographer, and sculptor. Known for my installation art, and collages made by combining paint and photographs the evolution of technology has always paralleled my work throughout its development. From the original copy machine to today’s iPad, and the influence of electronics permeates my process. Though I have experimented with painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media, I have seen a transformation in my art through the digital age incorporating technology with the iPad into my work.
I have been shown widely in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad over the past three decades, including the New York Public Library, Bass Museum in Miami Beach, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Paintings I have created hang in such disparate places as Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Frost Art Museum, Miami, FL; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL; Kunsan Contemporary Museum (now the Gunsan Modern History Museum), Korea; Nova Scotia Museum, Nova Scotia, Canada, as well as many private collectors’ homes.
Artist Statement:
My work is about the layers of life and art history. In seeking a connection between art aesthetics and social consciousness, I portray a perception of urban tension, raw emotions and harsh realities tempered with gentle optimism and beauty, countering an American dream that has gone a bit astray. Bringing an awareness of new directions and individual inventiveness through life experience as a woman artist and mother, I incorporate visual, emotional, and psychological impressions and feed them into my art.
Hot Pink Interference (Vigilance I), 2018, Print on glossy photographic paper, 16 x 20 inches
JOSHUA ELIAS
Los Angeles, CA
@joshuaelias57
www.joshuaelias.com
Joshua Elias (b. 1957 Chicago Illinois)
Abstract artist Joshua is known for work that contains both recognizable and other-worldly unrecognizable figures, set in mysterious landscapes.
A pure oil painter in painting, Elias utilizes whimsy as a stint and abstraction as a vessel to contain an interior landscape of a higher world. The paintings exemplify his continued interest in the interstitial plane.
After earning a BFA at San Diego State University studying cinema and theater, his studies, shifted into studio oil painting at Otis Parsons in Los Angeles.
Early work was a creation of unstructured sunglasses, made from film stock called Filmwear. Appropriation of materials, eventually led to a set of dramatic oil paintings of immaterial worlds. Thematically within his artwork, he uncovers recurring Spiritual locations a defined visual setting for the playing out of ancient myths.
Some highlights include:
A frequent featured guest, participating in many creative conferences, Joshua was part of the acclaimed Writers Retreat in Iceland in 2016/2017. An outgrowth of this was an inspired exhibition of tectonic works called Rock Light, a story of a man trapped in a boulder for 10,000 years. A hard-bound publication of Rock Light from Lumen Press, which combined poetry and visual printed artworks both created by the artist was released in 2018. President Gudni of Iceland purchased one of these original works, Skin of the Sea, which now is displayed in the State house outside of Reykjavik.
Inspirational studies include a private apprenticeship with ‘historyical, classical technique painting master’ Sylvana Barrett who is consultant at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. He has received many honors: an Artist Residency at Fundacion Valaparaiso in Andalusia Spain, another Artist Residency at 3.1 Arts in Saissac France, inclusions at the art collection at the RAND Corporation, works featured at TED.com Kohler Home for the Future, as well as numerous private and public commissions. Close to one hundred iconic works by the artist were commissioned by designer Kelly Wearstler for the Viceroy Hotels International as noted in her book Modern Glamour: The Art of Unexpected Style, Regan Books.
April 2022, Elias exhibition at the Biblioteca Angelica S’Agostino Rome Italy, in a show titled Visionary. A book publication to follow in 2023. The Metropolitan Museum Chiba Tokyo Japan as part of an International Cultural Exchange in 2022.
Joshua Elias exhibits this summer with his mother, Sheila Elias, and his sister Joyce Elias, both acclaimed artists in their own right. The exhibit,famil-E will be at the Art Center Highland Park in Chicago through August 2022.
The artist works daily at his art studio at the Brewery Arts Complex in Los Angeles.
JOSHUA ELIAS
JOYCE ELIAS
Evanston, IL
@krinklebein
www.joyceeliasart.com
Joyce Elias is a mixed media artist based in Evanston, Illinois. She is a graduate of The San Francisco Art Institute and earned a teaching credential through The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her artwork encompasses a wide range of media including painting, printmaking, collage, woodworking, pottery and photography. Her artistic career led her to design jewelry for an international company and set designer for children's theater. In addition, Joyce teaches art to children and adults in a variety of settings.
Joyce’s most recent work is focused on painted paper collages. She also is continuing with her Artists Weather Project which launched in 2015. The project began when she decided to embrace the harsh Midwest winters. She photographs nature on a daily basis; then each photo is assigned the day’s weather colors and is posted on social media. These photos are the inspiration for her colorful paintings, collages and wood constructions.
Artist Statement:
There Is A Fine Line Between Nature vs. Nurture
When Josh and I were young kids we seemed to have plenty of free time. When we weren’t in school we would play with our friends and the neighbor-hood kids. We organized a lot of own activities. Our Mom encouraged that. Once in awhile she’d sign us up for a class or camp or a team sport. The rest of the time it was up to us regarding how we would spend our time.
Mostly, I made art, built stuff, played all kinds of sports and read quite a bit. Our Mom frequently took us to the local library. I loved discovering an author and made sure to read all of the books in the series. I also loved to read comic books and National Geographic. Life Magazine was another favorite of mine. I enjoyed the wonderful photography in these publications.
Our Mom delighted in buying and refurbishing used furniture. She would take Josh and I into the city to peruse the resale shops. She would usually get lost on the way there. We came to expect that. Sometimes she would pack us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We’d eat them amongst the dusty furniture. When I started applying for admission to college I told my parents that I wanted to go to art school. They wanted me study “something more practical.” I went to art school anyway.
As adult artists the three of us are big fans of each other’s work. We each have developed our own style. However, there are some common threads. Most of our work tends toward abstraction with a strong emphasis on color, shape and design.
This family-E show has been years in the making. We are all thrilled to be exhibiting our work together.
