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
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
Born 1979. Lives and works in Upstate New York.
EDUCATION
New Orleans School of Glass and Print, New Orleans, LA
Larson Red Angus Ranch, Big Timber, MT
2001
Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA – Printmaking and book arts
1997
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
An open door to an empty room, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo, JP
2016
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
2014
Solo presentation LISTE 18, Basel, CH
2013
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
2012
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
2011
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
2010
Truths We Forgot to Lie About (with Joey Piecuch), The Helm Gallery, Tacoma, WA
2009
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
2008
Voluntary Non vulnerable, Bodgers and Kludgers Cooperative Art Parlour (with Oscar Tuazon), Vancouver, BC
The Things We Carry, Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, Tacoma, WA
2007
Hearts, Teeth, Vaginas, Hand to Mouth Gallery, Bellingham, WA
2004
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Art Basel Hong Kong, with Take Ninagawa, Hong Kong, CN
2016
Deep End, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
To blow smoke in order to heal, Albert Baronian, Brussels, BE
Milk Revolution, American Academy in Rome, Rome, IT
2015
ANAMERICANA, American Academy in Rome, Rome, IT
2014
New Years Project, Western Bridge, Seattle, WA
Dynasty, Palais De Tokyo, Paris, FR
Shadow Effect, The Company, Los Angeles, CA
2010
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
2009
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
2008
Kulture der Angst, Halle 14, Leipzig, DE
2006
LECTURES
“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
2008
AWARDS
Seattle Art Museum PONCHO Special Recognition Award
2010
RESIDENCIES
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
2008
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
2007
PRESS
Elias Hansen, “Elias Hansen,” This Long Century, April 2014.
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.
2014
Jeremy Liebman, “Shorts on Sunday: Elias Hansen”, NOWNESS, November 10, 2013.
“The Glass Show at Jonathan Viner London,” Mousse Magazine, January 13, 2013.
2013
Leah Ollman, “Art review: Elias Hansen and the Reader at the Company,” L.A. Times, February 15, 2012.
2012
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.
2011
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.
2010
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.
2009
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.
2008
PUBLICATIONS
Even Crooks Have To Pay The Rent, Minor Matter Books, 2013.
An open door to an empty room, Installation view at Take Ninagawa, 2016
I'm so glad we found each other, 2011.
Glass, wood.
22 x 14 x 11 inches.
We lost touch, 2011.
Glass, wood
19 x 32 x 9 inches.
Ain't much use going any further, 2012 -2014.
Glass, found objects, steel, wood
60 x 18 x 35 inches.
Her mom thought I fucked you over, 2012.
Glass, steel, wire, wood
24 x 25 x 16 inches.
I asked around but nobody knew anything, 2011.
Glass, party bulbs, wood
16 x 11 x 12 inches.
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.
I'll Stop By, 2013.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, wood
58 x 30 x 11 inches.
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.
It all depends on what you mean, 2013.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, wood.
48 x 36 x 7 inches.
It seems further than it is, 2014.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, steel, wood
55 x 41 x 14 inches.
It was gone soon as it started, 2011.
Glass, tape, wood
16 x 15 x 10 inches
This Cool?, 2014.
Glass, found objects, light fixtures, wood, 42 x 31 x 11 inches.
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.
We made it far enough, 2012.
Glass, vinyl, wood
24 x 38 x 11 inches.
We should just camp here, 2012.
Wood, glass, metal, plastic tubing, fungus
30 x 24 x 28 inches.
You want in, 2011.
Glass, wood, steel, vinyl
6 x 14 x 8 inches.
You'll see it at the bottom of the hill, 2014.
Glass, found objects, wood
26 x 20 x 18 inches.
Wasn'??t an easy lesson to learn, 2012.
Glass, steel, wire, wood
24 x 25 x 16 inches.
BIOGRAPHY
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
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
CV
Born 1979. Lives and works in Upstate New York.
EDUCATION
New Orleans School of Glass and Print, New Orleans, LA
Larson Red Angus Ranch, Big Timber, MT
2001
Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA – Printmaking and book arts
1997
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
An open door to an empty room, Take Ninagawa, Tokyo, JP
2016
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
2014
Solo presentation LISTE 18, Basel, CH
2013
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
2012
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
2011
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
2010
Truths We Forgot to Lie About (with Joey Piecuch), The Helm Gallery, Tacoma, WA
2009
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
2008
Voluntary Non vulnerable, Bodgers and Kludgers Cooperative Art Parlour (with Oscar Tuazon), Vancouver, BC
The Things We Carry, Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, Tacoma, WA
2007
Hearts, Teeth, Vaginas, Hand to Mouth Gallery, Bellingham, WA
2004
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Art Basel Hong Kong, with Take Ninagawa, Hong Kong, CN
2016
Deep End, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
To blow smoke in order to heal, Albert Baronian, Brussels, BE
Milk Revolution, American Academy in Rome, Rome, IT
2015
ANAMERICANA, American Academy in Rome, Rome, IT
2014
New Years Project, Western Bridge, Seattle, WA
Dynasty, Palais De Tokyo, Paris, FR
Shadow Effect, The Company, Los Angeles, CA
2010
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
2009
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
2008
Kulture der Angst, Halle 14, Leipzig, DE
2006
LECTURES
“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
2008
AWARDS
Seattle Art Museum PONCHO Special Recognition Award
2010
RESIDENCIES
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
2008
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
2007
PRESS
Elias Hansen, “Elias Hansen,” This Long Century, April 2014.
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.
2014
Jeremy Liebman, “Shorts on Sunday: Elias Hansen”, NOWNESS, November 10, 2013.
“The Glass Show at Jonathan Viner London,” Mousse Magazine, January 13, 2013.
2013
Leah Ollman, “Art review: Elias Hansen and the Reader at the Company,” L.A. Times, February 15, 2012.
2012
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.
2011
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.
2010
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.
2009
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.
2008
PUBLICATIONS
Even Crooks Have To Pay The Rent, Minor Matter Books, 2013.