Elias Hansen (sculptor)

Elias Hansen attended the New Orleans School of Glass and Print in New Orleans and the Larson Red Angus Ranch in Big Timber, MT in 2001. He also studied printmaking under Master Printer Keiko Hara at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA from 1997 to 2001. He subsequently attended the University of Ohio in Columbus, OH as an Artist in Residence in 2011.

Eli Hansen is an artist concerned with blending his expertise in the very traditional processes of glass, steel, and wood with an art practice that focuses on sculpture, installation, and the ready-made.[1] By bringing together objects he creates himself with so-called found objects, he blurs the lines between the two and questions the value we place on them.[1] Delicate blown-glass sculptures are presented alongside deteriorating found objects on handmade shelves or placed in a frame of roughly forged steel to make off-kilter chandeliers.[1] By juxtaposing the rough and the exquisite, the elaborate structures begin to resemble the fantastical accouterment of dysfunctional meth labs.[1]

Elias Hansen, Light Sculpture, 2019, Glass, Steel, Electrical wiring, CFL bulbs, 10 x 11 x 16 inches

Hansen’s work has been shown in galleries and museums since 2004. Hansen uses light as subject and material to explore elemental and artificial occurrences in nature and the studio.[2][3]

Elias Hansen’s multidimensional installations are precisely staged and have a Do it Yourself / handmade aesthetic.[4] His works often combine contrasting objects—elegant hand-blown glass ambiguously juxaposed alongside discarded materials like light bulbs or rubber tubing.[4] Handmade wooden tabletops or shelving also frequently occupy Hansen’s work.[4]

The artist spent several important years living with his brother, Oscar Tuazon, and friends on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, where the men were inspired to create from the natural, woody materials available around them.[4] These disparate elements existing simultaneously in his sculptures have a twofold effect: on the one hand, Hansen’s installations reliably tackle dialogue relating to the social value of objects, particularly the distinction between prized possessions and designated trash.[4] On the other hand, his staged scenarios offer slightly unsettling narratives, which hint at drug laboratories and the nearby or recent occurrence of illicit behavior.[4]

Hansen is represented by Anat Ebgi in Los Angeles and Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton, NY.

Elias’ work is in the permanent collections of the Seattle Art Museum[5] in Seattle, Tacoma Art Museum[6] in Tacoma, Henry Art Gallery[7] at the University of Washington in Seattle, Boise Art Museum[8] in Boise, Colleción Jumex[9] in Mexico City. He lives and works in New York City and Seattle, Washington.

Elias Hansen is the brother of American Sculptor, Oscar Tuazon.

Solo exhibitions

• Elias Hansen – Go Towards the Light, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY, 2019
• Specialist Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2018 
• Elias Hansen, Team Gallery, Los Angeles, 2017
• Elias Hansen, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA, 2017
• Elias Hansen, Halsey McKay, New York, NY, 2017
• Elias Hansen, Simon Cooper Cole, Toronto, Canada, 2017
• The wrong way home.  Eli Hansen and The Reader, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
• I Thought I Had a Dog in This Fight, But It Ain't Seem Like It Now, Jeffrey Stark, New York, NY, 2016
• An open door to an empty room. Take Ninagawa, Tokyo, Japan, 2016
• Oh Brother, Eli Hansen and Oscar Tuazon, Maccarone, New York, NY, 2014
• You Can Cry All You Want, But It Ain’t Changing Shit. Jonathan Viner, London, United Kingdom, 2014
• I'm a long way from home and I don't really know these roads, Anat Egbi, Los Angeles, CA, 2014
• Should be fine, Maccarone, NYC, 2012
• Next time, they’ll know it’s us, The Company, Los Angeles, CA, 2011
• Certainly, couldn't have learned it on my own, Frieze Frame w/ Jonathan Viner, London, UK, 2011
• It wasn't I found it later, The Fireplace Project, Hamptons, NY, 2011
• You know we're nowhere near there, right? Jonathan Viner, London, UK, 2011
• This is the Last Place I Could Hide, Maccarone, New York, NY, 2010
• We Used to Get So High, Lawrimore Project, Seattle, WA, 2010
• It Was One of My Best Comes (with Oscar Tuazon), Parc Saint Leger, Pougues Les Eaux, France, 2010
• Predicting the Present, The Company, Los Angeles, CA, 2010
• Truths We Forgot to Lie About (with Joey Piecuch), The Helm Gallery, Tacoma, WA, 2009
• Seattle Art Museum (with Oscar Tuazon), Seattle, WA, 2008
• Howard House Contemporary Art (with Oscar Tuazon), Seattle, WA, 2008
• VOluntary Non vUlnerable; Bodgers and Kludgers Cooperative Art Parlour, Vancouver, BC, 2007
• The Things We Carry; Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, Tacoma, WA, 2007
• Hearts, Teeth, Vaginas; Hand to Mouth Gallery, Bellingham, WA, 2004

Selected group exhibitions

• Rainbows from Atoms, Chris Duncan & Elias Hansen, Halsey McKay Gallery, New York, NY, 2019
• "Another, Once Again, Many Times More", Martos Gallery, East Marion, NY, 2014
• “Shattered Preface”, OSL Contemporary, Oslo, Norway, 2014
• Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama, Japan, 2014
• "Under the Influence", SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2014
• “Anamericana,” American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, 2013
• “Tone Poem,” Halsey McKay, East Hampton, NY, 2013
• “The Glass Show,” Jonathan Viner, London, UK, 2013
• “Summer in a Bottle,” Wolffer Estate Vineyard, Sagaponack, NY, 2013
• “Heart to Hand (with Oscar Tuazon),” curated by Pati Hertling, Swiss Institute, NYC, 2012
• “We Barely Made It”, Elias Hansen and The Reader, The Company, Los Angeles, CA, 2012
• “He is Transparent”, Renwick Gallery, New York, NY, 2012
• “Les Statues Meurent Aussi”, Galleria Suzy Shammah, Milan, Italy, 2011
• The Medicine Bag, Maccarone, NY, 2011
• Group Show, A Palazzo, Brescia, Italy, 2011
• New Year’s Project, Western Bridge, Seattle, WA, 2010
• Dynasty, Palais De Tokyo, Paris, France, 2010
• Shadow, The Company, Los Angeles, CA, 2010
• Wood: Curated by Ellen Langan, Maccarone, NY, NY, 2009
• Spite House: Curated by Yoko Ott & Jessica Powers, Lawrimore Project, Seattle, WA, 2009
• Suddenly: Where We Live Now, 312 Occidental, Seattle, WA, 2009
• Looking Forward, Traver Gallery, Tacoma, WA, 2009
• Suddenly: Where We Live Now, Pomona College Museum of Art, Pomona, CA, 2009
• The Station, Miami 2008, Curated by Shamim Momin and Nate Lowman, 2008
• Sack of Bones, Peres Projects – Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA, 2008
• Suddenly: Where We Live Now, Cooley Gallery, Reed College, Portland, OR, 2008
• You Complete Me, Western Bridge, Seattle, WA, 2008
• Aqua Art Fair, Miami, FL, 2008
• Kulture der Angst; Halle 14, Leipzig, Germany, 2006
• Western Washington University Contemporary Art Gallery, Bellingham, WA, 2004

• Seattle Art Museum PONCHO Special Recognition Award, 2010

• "We Used to Get So High” Lecture and discussion with Scott Lawrimore, Seattle, WA, 2010
• "Why should I be serious about glass if I'm serious about art?", Panel discussion with Doug Heller, Linda Greene, Jutta Page. Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, 2008
• "The Built Environment", Slide lecture with Jenene Nagy, Thom Heileson, Adam Satushek, Crawlspace, Seattle, WA, 2008

• Rainbows from Atoms, Wall Street International Magazine, Feb 7, 2019

• Artist's website