The Talented Mr. Elias

I met Joshua Elias at the Brewery Studios Artwalk in Los Angeles years ago, and was immediately taken with both his paintings and with the man himself. He’s a character as colorful as his work, and his bio as I retell it may take some creative license (which always makes for a better story), or may be 100% factual. Either way, it’s a fun ride, as Joshua is a multi-hyphenate bon vivant, a man of the world, an artist, a poet, a traveler, a sensitive soul. Yet in his studio, a chaotic table of paint tubes makes me think it’s not all tranquil seas under his calm exterior, and leads me to wonder about the edginess and controlled tension woven into those lovely fields of color.

As a teenager meeting sculptor Louise Nevelson, they shook hands and she proclaimed “You have the soul of an artist.” With this decree, I picture a young Joshua pinballing off in every direction, setting in motion an eclectic trajectory of creative exploration. Joshua studied film, theater, and art, made unstructured sunglasses from film stock called FilmWear, was employed by the US Government while living in Berlin, and had his paintings exhibited internationally. I’m most enamored of the story of Jacob at a writer’s retreat in Iceland, where the Icelandic President discovered and purchased one of his paintings which now hangs in the state house outside Reykjavik. Clearly the President has unexpected and contemporary taste in art, which seals the deal for my appreciation of all things Iclelandic.

Joshua’s paintings are MAGNIFICENT, large, colorful and dynamic. I’m including videos that highlight how Joshua works, and showcase the light filled studio where I first met Joshua. Until watching these, I hadn’t known he also grinds pigment to mix colors, assuming those messy paint tubes were solely responsible for his colors. I love discovering these Easter eggs as part of creative process.

Joshua is multi-layered, as is his art. It’s not necessary to label his work as either abstract or representational; why be one thing when you can be both? Why be just poet, when you can be painter, actor, traveler, conveyor of the sublime in its many manifestations? In Joshua’s paintings I see how he explores ideas, words and the world on canvas. How he uses color and the hidden layers keep me entranced, engaged, and always excited to see what he’ll do next.

Joshua’s work is on display through March 2, 2024 at the LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, NM as part of their True Colors exhibition.