Biography
Born in Cornwall, UK, in 1965, Jason Ellis studied sculpture at the University of Chichester under Alan Saunders, a former student of Anthony Caro’s. Following his degree, he trained then worked as a sculpture conservator in London for eight years and Ireland for a further twelve, having moved to Dublin in 1994.
In 2006 he left conservation and turned exclusively to producing his own sculptures, which now feature in numerous public and private collections. Public works include Bantry Boats, the Bantry House Archive Gift, Co. Cork, 1997, and The McDonogh Stone for the Druid Theatre, Galway, 2009. His largest commission, Figurehead, stands over 7 metres high and was completed for University College Dublin in 2008. In 2010 he installed Black Pool, White Water at the Garda Memorial Garden in Dublin Castle and showed -hedra at the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2013, he held his first solo show with the Oliver Sears Gallery and was invited to submit to the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland.
The combination of a fine art training and twenty years spent in conservation has influenced his art practice. His immaculate carvings display a deep knowledge and appreciation of the medium of stone. His studio is a converted farm building in the Ox Mountains, Co. Sligo, where he carves for nine months of the year. In his practice he utilises pure abstraction and aspects of the human form.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2013 Corpus, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin
2012 Plaster of Paris: Maquettes, 2006-2001, Pearse Museum, Rathfarnham, Dublin
2011 New Stone Carvings, Prospect Gallery, Dublin
2010 Jason Ellis: Sculptures, F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studio, Banbridge, Northern Ireland
2007 New Works, Portobello Studios, Dublin
Selected Group Exhibitions
2014 Vase, vessel, void | Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin (upcoming)
2014 National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, University of Limerick, Ireland
2014, 2011 Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2014 Sculpture in Context, Botanical Gardens, Dublin
2014 Unfold, Rua Red Gallery, Tallaght, Ireland
2014 CASe, Lavit Gallery, Cork, Ireland
2014 Form, Artistic Alliance, Ballymaloe House, Co. Cork, Ireland
2013-2012 Boyle Arts Festival , Boyle, Co. Roscommon, Ireland
2012 Uddenskulptur 2012 Hunnebostrand, Sweden
2012 Hibernation , Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin
2012 Mór Chuid Cloch, Sculpture symposium, Clones, Co. Monaghan, Ireland
2012 Gallery 52, Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, Ireland
2011 Black & White, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin
2011 Art London, Oliver Sears Gallery, Royal Hospital Chelsea, London
2010 La Biennale de Venezia – 12th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice
2010 Séoda – Contemporary Irish Sculpture, Kenny Gallery, Galway & AVA Gallery, Bangor, Northern Ireland
2009 Evolution, TileStyle showrooms, Ballymount Retail Centre, Dublin
2009 Summer show, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council, Town Hall, Dun Laoghaire
2009 Spring Forms, Solomon Gallery, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland
2008 AWAS corporate headquarters, Docklands, Dublin
2005 Five new works, Lysaght Gallery, Howth, Co. Dublin, Ireland
2004 Éigse, Carlow Institute of Technology, Carlow Arts Festival, Co. Carlow, Ireland
1996 Fís – artist and architect collaboration, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
1995 National Sculpture Factory, Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland