“Green deliberately brings multiple applications to bear in a single painting. The result is an entangled, jarring combination of twisting, coiling forms; gradient, monochromatic planes; striated shapes; furling clouds and bulbous silhouettes.” -John Yau
Elliott Green (b. 1960, Detroit, Michigan) approaches painting with a sense of lightness, curiosity, and tenderness. With expansive depth and a variety of gestures, these images present energy, light, and color in roiling geological and atmospheric settings. Green conquers abstraction by shifting shapes that drift from the moorings of recognizable natural entities—clouds, mountains, and terrains. The elements are often in a state of dispersion, misting off particles into neighboring elements and airspaces around them. John Yau writes, “It was apparent that Green was working in a generative place where the tug between representation and abstraction never resolved itself, which is also true of the paintings of Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. Green’s refusal to move definitively towards representation or abstraction has resulted in one of the most interesting and engaging projects undertaken by a contemporary artist exploring the subject of landscape in paint.” Green is the recipient of many fellowships, grants, and awards including The Shifting Foundation Grant, Salt Lake City, UT; Award in Art, The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY; Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY; BAU Institute, Cassis, France; Yaddo Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY; Jules Guerin Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy; Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY; Yaddo Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY; Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant, New York, NY; Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Grant, Colorado Springs, CO and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, New York, NY. Elliott Green lives and works in Athens, NY.