Ellis was first drawn to art as a teenager when he saw Wine-Crucifix by Arnulf Rainer at Tate Modern. This extraordinary work, originally created for the Student Chapel of the Catholic University in Graz, Austria, was hung across a window, and the shape of a cross was revealed beneath the many layers of deep red paint only when the light shone through the canvas. The painting is a powerful work at any time, but its living shifting symbolism in response to the light spoke directly to his imagination, as did the work he saw that day by Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud; these three artists have had a significant and visible influence on his work ever since.

Ellis graduated from the University of the West of England, where he studied Graphic Design, but soon found his artistic expression was evolving into a love of abstract painting. He developed a distinctive and highly personal style and began to sell his art on the harbour side in Bristol. It was not long before he had attracted attention from local gallery owners and from there his career as a fine artist took off. Since 2007, Ellis has exhibited widely across the UK both in solo and group exhibitions, including Black Rats Projects in Soho and a solo show in Glasgow.

“I’m driven by the urge to experiment and try to paint with everything not designed to be painted with and moving my medium around the canvas in novel ways. I like to work fast and capture as much energy as possible.”

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