Elias Hansen

Elias Hansen Not Right Now, 2017, Anat Ebgi, Installation view

About

Elias Hansen’s work involves hand-blown glass objects that convey a regularity not unlike that of a mass-produced process. Hansen’s installations, comprised of an assortment of pipettes, flasks and beakers alongside rough-cut wood, rubber tubing and light bulbs, are interrelated in arrangements that reference the fragility of both the precious and the discarded, the authentic and the reproduced. The precarious composition of his installations is both spatial and formal. Jagged wood elements intrude into the exhibition space, upon which glass objects are uneasily displayed, suggesting impending shatter. This anxiety within Hansen’s work undermines the traditional narrative of sculpture, subverting its high art status as a flux between discarded context and admired form.

EXHIBITIONS

Not Right Now, November 4 – December 16, 2017

I’m a long way from home and I don’t really know these roads, January 11 – February 22, 2014

We barely made it, January 21 – February 25, 2012

Next time, they’ll know it’s us, January 21 – February 26, 2011

Predicting the Present, January 14 – February 28, 2010

Images

Elias Hansen *Not Right Now,* 2017, Anat Ebgi, Installation view

Elias Hansen, *Not Right Now* , Installation View, Anat Ebgi, 2017

Elias Hansen
*You told me you wouldn't do this to me. But here I am, stuck digging through the junk on your porch.*, 2017
Electricity, found objects, glass, light, steel
12 x 7 x 7'

Elias Hansen

*Your eyes sore from crying, but it ain't time to look away.*, 2017
Electricity, found objects, glass, light, vinyl, water, water pump, wood
Dimensions variable

Elias Hansen

*I ain't no hero.*, 2017
Electricity, found objects, glass, light, steel
Dimensions variable

Elias Hansen
*Shoved up against the problem.*, 2017
Electricity, found objects, glass, light, steel, wood
Dimensions variable

Elias Hansen
*An open door to an empty room*, Installation view at Take Ninagawa, 2016

Elias Hansen and Oscar Tuazon
*Neon Rainbow (Green)*, 2017
Neon, beer bottle, light fixtures, plexi
4 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches

Elias Hansen
*Too old to fuck.*, 2017
CFL bulbs, glass, light fixtures, wire
66 1/2 x 47 1/2 x 4 inches

Elias Hansen
*You can always take less later.*, 2012
CFL bulbs, glass, wire
41 x 15 x 7 inches

Elias Hansen
*Hold onto everything you got, and everything you thought you had.*, 2014
CFL bulbs, glass, wire, wood
57 x 27 1/4 x 6 inches

Detail of *Until I held it in my hands*, 2012.

Elias Hansen
*I'm so glad we found each other*, 2011.
Glass, wood.
22 x 14 x 11 inches.

Elias Hansen
*We lost touch*, 2011.
Glass, wood
19 x 32 x 9 inches.

Elias Hansen
*Ain't much use going any further*, 2012 -2014.
Glass, found objects, steel, wood
60 x 18 x 35 inches.

Elias Hansen
*Her mom thought I fucked you over*, 2012.
Glass, steel, wire, wood
24 x 25 x 16 inches.

Elias Hansen
*I asked around but nobody knew anything*, 2011.
Glass, party bulbs, wood
16 x 11 x 12 inches.

Elias Hansen, *I can't put my finger on it*, 2011. Glass, tape, wood, 19 x 14 x 10 inches.

Elias Hansen
*I guess it was more difficult, but after a while it didnt seem to matter*, 2011.
Glass, tape, wool
18 x 14 x 11 inches.

Elias Hansen
*I'll Stop By*, 2013.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, wood
58 x 30 x 11 inches.

Elias Hansen, *I'm a long way from home and I don't really know these roads*, Installation View.

Elias Hansen
*I'm a long way from home and I don't really know these roads*, 2013.
Glass, found objects
5 x 5 x 4 inches.

Elias Hansen
*It all depends on what you mean*, 2013.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, wood.
48 x 36 x 7 inches.

Elias Hansen
*It seems further than it is*, 2014.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, steel, wood
55 x 41 x 14 inches.

Elias Hansen
*It was gone soon as it started*, 2011.
Glass, tape, wood
16 x 15 x 10 inches

Elias Hansen
*This Cool?*, 2014.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, wood, 42 x 31 x 11 inches.

Elias Hansen
*Until I held it in my hands*, 2012.
Found objects, glass, LED turntable, Party Bulb, pump, silicon, steel, wire
32 x 46 x 16.5 inches.

Elias Hansen
*We made it far enough*, 2012.
Glass, vinyl, wood
24 x 38 x 11 inches.

Elias Hansen
*We should just camp here*, 2012.
Wood, glass, metal, plastic tubing, fungus
30 x 24 x 28 inches.

Elias Hansen
*You want in*, 2011.
Glass, wood, steel, vinyl
6 x 14 x 8 inches.

Elias Hansen
*You'll see it at the bottom of the hill*, 2014.
Glass, found objects, wood
26 x 20 x 18 inches.

Elias Hansen
*Wasn'??t an easy lesson to learn*, 2012.
Glass, steel, wire, wood
24 x 25 x 16 inches.

Exhibitions

Good Company: The Remix

February 6 — March 6, 2021, 6150 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USAWilshire

Elias Hansen: Not Right Now

November 4 — December 16, 2017, 2660 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034, USALa Cienega

Brass Tacks

July 22 — August 26, 2017, 2660 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034, USALa Cienega

Elias Hansen: I’m a long way from home and I don’t really know these roads.

January 11 — February 22, 2014, 2660 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034, USALa Cienega

News

What Not to Miss: Los Angeles November Shows

Seemingly scientific objects become decorative, obscuring function or purpose.

Whitewall, November 2017

Elias Hansen

Elias Hansen is a 21st-century Morandi of the backwoods—a ponderer and scavenger whose meditations on a limited array of objects read as a sort of private poetry. —Leah Ollman

Art in America, April 2014

SFAQ Pick: “I’m a Long Way From Home And I Don’t Really Know These Roads” Solo Exhibition by Elias Hansen at Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles.

know these roads,” a solo exhibition of new sculpture by Elias Hansen. Working in Upstate New York, Hansen’s work is very much rooted in his current and past backcountry surroundings. His art incorporates this while forcing its observer, often an urbanite, to ask ‘what goes on out there’?

SFAQ, February 2014

CV

Elias Hansen

1979: Born in Washington, USA.
: Lives and works in Washington State.

Education

2001: New Orleans School of Glass and Print, New Orleans, LA
: Larson Red Angus Ranch, Big Timber, MT
1997: Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA – Printmaking and book arts

Solo Exhibitions

2018: Elias Hansen, Specialist Gallery, Seattle, WA
: Blue Projects: Elias Hansen, Blue Mountain School, London, UK
2017: Not Right Now, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA and Team Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
: Elias Hansen, Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON
: The Wrong Way Home, Eli Hansen and The Reader, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2016: An open door to an empty room, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo, JP
2014: Oh brother (with Oscar Tuazon), Maccarone, New York, NY
: You can cry all you want, but you ain’t changing shit, Jonathan Viner, London, UK.
: I'm a long way from home and I don't really know these roads, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA
2013: Solo presentation LISTE 18, Basel, CH
2012: We're just in it for the money (with Oscar Tuazon), Balice Hertling, Paris, FR
: We Barely made it (with the Reader), The Company, Los Angeles
2011: Certainly couldn’t have learned it on my own, Frieze Frame, Jonathan Viner
: It wasn’t until I found it later, The Fireplace Projects, Hamptons, NY
: You know we’re nowhere near there, right?, Jonathan Viner, London, UK
: Next time, they’ll know it’s us, The Company, Los Angeles, CA
2010: This is the Last Place I Could Hide, Maccarone, New York, NY
: We Used To Get So High, Lawrimore Project, Seattle, WA
: It Was One of My Best Comes (with Oscar Tuazon), Parc Saint Leger, Pougues Les Eaux, FR
: Predicting the Present, The Company, Los Angeles, CA
2009: Truths We Forgot to Lie About (with Joey Piecuch), The Helm Gallery, Tacoma, WA
2008: Kodiak, Seattle Art Museum (with Oscar Tuazon), Seattle, WA
: This world’s just not real to me, Howard House Contemporary Art (with Oscar Tuazon), Seattle, WA
2007: Voluntary Non Vulnerable, Bodgers and Kludgers Cooperative Art Parlour (with Oscar Tuazon), Vancouver, BC
: The Things We Carry, Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, Tacoma, WA
2004: Hearts, Teeth, Vaginas, Hand to Mouth Gallery, Bellingham, WA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2020: Good Company: Pt. 1, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA
: Converter, Halsey McKay, New York, NY
2017: Glen Baldridge and Elias Hansen, Halsey McKay, New York, NY
2015: Deep End, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
: Milk Revolution, American Academy in Rome, Rome, IT
2013: ANAMERICANA, American Academy in Rome, Rome, IT
2010: New Years Project, Western Bridge, Seattle, WA
: Dynasty, Palais De Tokyo, Paris, FR
: Shadow Effect, The Company, Los Angeles, CA
2009: Wood, curated by Ellen Langan, Maccarone, NY, NY
: Spite House, curated by Yoko Ott & Jessica Powers, Lawrimore Project, Seattle, WA
: Suddenly: Where We Live Now, 312 Occidental, Seattle, WA
: Looking Forward, Traver Gallery, Tacoma, WA
: Suddenly: Where We Live Now, Pomona College Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
2008: The Station, Miami 2008, curated by Shamim Momin and Nate Lowman
: Sack of Bones, Peres Projects, Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA
: Suddenly: Where We Live Now, Cooley Gallery, Reed College, Portland, OR
: You Complete Me, Western Bridge, Seattle, WA
2006: Kulture der Angst, Halle 14, Leipzig, DE

Lectures

2008: "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
: "The Built Environment", Slide lecture with Jenene Nagy, Thom Heileson, Adam Satushek. Crawlspace, Seattle, WA

Awards

2010: Seattle Art Museum PONCHO Special Recognition Award

Residencies

2008: Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
2007: Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA

Bibliography

2018: Katy Donogue, "LA Galleriest Anat Ebgi on Why Artists No Longer Need to 'Make it' in New York," Whitewall Magazine, January 24, 2018. (Link)
2017: "What Not to Miss: Los Angeles November Shows," Whitewall Magazine, November 14, 2017. (Link)
2016: Katy Donoghue, “In The Studio with Elias Hansen,” Whitewall Magazine, December 27, 2016. (Link)
2014: Michael Hernandez, “Elias Hansen: High (Art) (Low) Life,” GASNews, Summer 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2. (Link)
: Leah Ollman, “Elias Hansen at Anat Ebgi,” Art in America, April 2014. (Link)
: Elias Hansen, “Elias Hansen,” This Long Century, April 2014. (Link)
: A.Moret, “Elias Hansen: ‘I’m a long way from home and I really don’t know these roads.’ at Anat Ebgi,” art ltd., March/April 2014.
: “SFAQ Pick: ‘I’m a long way from home and I really don’t know these roads’ Solo Exhibition by Elias Hansen at Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles,” SFAQ, February 16, 2014. (Link)
2013: Jeremy Liebman, “Shorts on Sunday: Elias Hansen”, NOWNESS, November 10, 2013. (Link)
: “The Glass Show at Jonathan Viner London,” Mousse Magazine, January 13, 2013. (Link)
2012: Leah Ollman, “Art review: Elias Hansen and the Reader at the Company,” L.A. Times, February 15, 2012.
2011: Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, “GLASS MAGNIFIES THINGS: Ten Considerations for Looking at Elias Hansen’s Vitreous Practice,” Mousse Magazine, Summer 2011.
: Andrew Berardini, “Eli Hansen: Next Time, They’ll Know It’s Us,” ArtReview, March 15, 2011.
: Joanna Fiduccia, “Eli Hansen’s ‘Next time, they’ll know it’s us’ at The Company, L.A.,” Art Agenda, February 17, 2011.
: Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, “Lovingly Polished and Laced with Drugs,” ARTslant, February 14, 2011.
: Leah Ollman, “Art review: Eli Hansen at the Company,” L.A. Times Blog, February 3, 2011.
2010: Michael Wilson, “This is the last place I could hide,” Artforum, October 2010.
: “Decoding Images,” Art in America, August 2010.
: Tamsen Greene, “This is the last place I could hide,” Artinfo, July 29, 2010.
: Drew Martin, “This is the last place I could hide,” The Museum of Peripheral Art Blog, July 21, 2010.
: Dan Cameron, “Three spaces in Seattle,” Art iT, July 5, 2010.
: Joh La Farge, “We Used to Get So High,” Seattleglassonline blog, May 1, 2010.
: Regina Hackett, “Oscar Tuazon/Elias Hansen: bicoastal brothers,” Artsjournal, May 5, 2010.
: Jen Graves, “Currently Hanging: Eli Hansen,” TheStranger.com, April 30, 2010.
: Jessica Powers, “We’ll always get that high,” ARTslant, April 27, 2010.
: Stephanie Snyder, “We Used To Get So High,” Artforum, April 2010.
: Catherine Taft, “Predicting the Present,” Saatchi Online Magazine, 2010.
: Allison Gibson, “Eli Hansen: Predicting the Present,” Dailyserving.com, February 9, 2010.
: Michael Darling, “Eli Hansen at the Company,” Paris, LA, January 13, 2010.
: Eric Konigsberg, “An Art Park Sprouts (for Now) Where New Buildings Were to Grow,” New York Times, September 16, 2010.
2009: Jen Graves, “The House that Spite Builds,” TheStranger.com, August 25, 2009.
: "Review: Spite House," Seattle Weekly, 2009.
: Regina Hackett, "Spite - the art version (exhibition land grabs)," Artsjournal.com, August 19, 2009.
: Jen Graves, “Just Across that Stand of Trees," TheStranger.com, July 14, 2009.
: Dave R Davison, “Studio Glass – The Next Generation,” Tacoma Weekly, March 25, 2009.
: Regina Hackett, "Staggering Greatness in Tacoma," Artsjournal.com, March 19, 2009.
: Jen Graves, "Jeffry Mitchell and Mexican Protest Prints: Free(ing) and Truths We Forgot to Lie About at the Helm Gallery," TheStranger.com, March 10, 2009.
: Daniel Blue, “DB: Moments of Clarity,” Exit 133, March 10, 2009.
: Regina Hackett, "Forging Tacoma: To the south of Seattle is the town that art built," Seattle P.I., March 2, 2009.
: Jen Graves, “Truths We Forgot To Lie About,” TheStranger.com, February 17, 2009.
: Mia Locks, "Suddenly: Where We Live Now at Pomona College,” Afterall.com, May 27, 2009.
2008: Vera Neykov, “Sack of Bonest.” ARTslant, December 1, 2008.
: John Motley, “Renegotiating Space,” The Portland Mercury, September 18, 2008.
: Shiela Farr, “Artists connect creatively as only brothers can,” The Seattle Times, May 9, 2008.
: Jen Graves, “The Invasion of Elar,” TheStranger.com, April 30, 2008.
: Regina Hackett, “When brothers Eli Hansen and Oscar Tuazon deliver the bad it’s good,” The Seattle P.I., April 24, 2008.
: Regina Hackett, “Exhibit lets you take art into your own hands, feet or eyes,” The Seattle P.I., May 1, 2008.
: Rosemary Ponnekanti, “Dynamic duo: Artist brothers with Tacoma ties capture worldwide attention,” Tacoma News Tribune, April 14, 2008.

Publications and Press

2013: Even Crooks Have To Pay The Rent, Minor Matter Books, 2013.

Public Collections

: Seattle Art Museum
: Tacoma Art Museum
: Henry Art Gallery
: Boise Art Museum
: Colleción Jumex