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Elias Telles
"To Hell with Ho Chi Minn" Naive, Folk Painting by Self-Taught Artist

2014

$3,200
£2,430.48
€2,808.01
CA$4,484.92
A$5,019.46
CHF 2,619.77
MX$61,211.59
NOK 33,529.55
SEK 31,740.01
DKK 20,955.78
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About the Item

"To Hell with Ho Chi Minn," Folk/Naive Painting, Acrylic on Board with Artist's Painted Wood Frame, 24 x 17 Inches, by Self-Taught artist Elias Telles. Telles is a Vietnam vet who unfortunately suffered from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, who took up painting as a way of dealing with his condition. This painting is a particularly poignant and whimsical abstraction inspired by Tellles's memories of the war. Fifteen years ago, Elias Telles woke from a dream in which an angel holding a lit candle was descending a staircase. The next morning he tore some wood from a dilapidated fence and started painting angels. Elias had already led an adventurous existence before becoming a self-taught painter. Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, he joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. It wasn’t until he was in his late ‘40s that he started to paint. At a local flea market one of his early works caught the attention of a set designer who placed it in a Steve Martin movie and from there his reputation grew: paintings subsequently appeared in a number of other productions which created a Hollywood following and his collectors now include several film directors, work is included in the permanent collection of The House of Blues, and he was one of the featured artists on the PBS series ‘Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations.’ An ex-marine, Telles lives quietly in California without a computer or a cell phone. His tastes lean towards American history and early blues and country music, subjects that frequently appear in his paintings. Soldiers, skeletons and honky-tonk men populate his paintings as do cultural and historical figures such as early minstrel show entertainer Gus Cannon, a ghoulishly-rendered Hank Williams, and the revered Alabama folk artist Bill Traylor, as well as numerous anonymous schoolteachers and sailors, seascapes and farm scenes. Provocative text is often included, Telles’s musings and his unique take on the world are a distinct feature of his work as are his elegant/rustic handmade wooden frames. While his brightly colored and more monochromatic scenes exude a celebratory atmosphere of Americana recalling the works of Horace Pippin and Grandma Moses, Elias Telles is a distinct personality and uniquely gifted artist who brings to his work all the charm of some earlier naive painters combined with an unusually cerebral and provocative dimension. Having recently retired from his lifelong trade of brick laying and marble-setting, Elias is now fully able to devote himself entirely to painting. A recent acquisition of his ‘Bean Eaters’ painting was made by the very established 19th century Algonquin Club in Boston.
  • Creator:
    Elias Telles (1950, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2014
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    The frame is integral to the painting.
  • Gallery Location:
    Wellesley, MA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU45631635693

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The paintings have a physicality and material presence that affirms the medium and is in contrast to their graphic impact." MARGO MARGOLIS EDUCATION B.S. Degree 1970, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York MFA Degree 1972, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 2007 Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 2001 Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 1997 Esso Gallery, New York, New York 1993 Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston, Mass. 1991 Beth Urdang Gallery, Chicago, IL. 1989 Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston, Mass 1987 Richard Green Gallery, New York 1980 Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1979 University of Southern Florida, Tampa, Florida 1979 Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida 1978 Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1977 Connecticut College, New London, Ct. 1977 Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 Fabulous You, Tiger Stikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, New York 2011 Twin, Twin, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, New York 2010 Spring Editions, Pelavin Editions, New York 2010 Group Exhibition, Beth Urdang Gallery, Wellesley, Massachusetts 2004 Analog Click-Click, Temple Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa. 2002 Snapshots, Arcadia University Gallery, Glenside, PA, Aldrich of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT 1999 Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston, MA 1998 Accrochage in the Gallery, Esso Gallery, New York 1998 Brad Kalhammer, Nicholas Rule, Margo Margolis, Solo Voices, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND 1998 Art Exchange Show, New York 1998 Works on Paper, Galeria Martano, Turin, Italy 1998 Paintings and Monoprints, Cheryl Pelavin Gallery, New York 1997 Esso Gallery in Torino, Villa Buttino, Torino, Italy 1997 Art Exchange Show, New York 1996 Objects by Some Artists and Architects, Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston, MA 1996 The Art Exchange Show, New York 1994 Abstract Painting, Carolyn Roy Gallery, New York 1995 Wayne C. Brown DePonton d”Amecourt Collection, Colby College, Waterville, ME 1994 Contemporary Prints, Quartet Gallery, New York 1992 Mentors, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 1991 Presenze, Artisti Stranieri in Italia Oggi, Rocca Paolina, Perugia, Italy 1990 Contemporary Painting, Langman Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa. 1989 Very Special Arts Benefit, Christies, New York 1989 Ground Work, Valencia College, Valencia, FL 1989 Group Show, Shea Beker Gallery, New York 1989 Drawings, Lorence Monk Gallery, New York 1989 Monoprints, University of Maine, Orono M 1989 Inadmissible Evidence, SUNY Purchase, New York 1988 Group Show, Bernard Jacobsen Gallery, New York 1986 Mutual Respect, Vanguard Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 1984 Nature As Image, OIA, New York 1983 Works on Paper, Bucknell University, A 1982 Group Show, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1981 Abstract Painting, Womens Caucus of the CAA, New York 1981 Ten Years Later, Skdmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York 1981 Exchanges III, Louis Abrons Center, New York 1981 Group Show, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1981 Sign and Symbol, Jeffrey Fuller Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 1981 Five Abstract Painters, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1981 Group Show, Marion Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 1980 New York, New, Work,”Delahunty Gallery, Dallas, Texas 1979 Group Show, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1978 Diamond, Margolis, and Ripps, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1978 Contemporary Drawings, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA 1978 Drawings, Pratt Graphics Center, New York 1978 Thick Paint, Curated by Carter Ratcliffe, Renaissance Society, University Of Chicago, Chicago, IL 1978 New Editions, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1978 Three New York Painters,” Alice Simsar Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI 1978 Six Contemporary Painters,”curated by Marcia Tucker, Kirkland College Clinton York 1977 Works on Paper, Alice Simsar Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI 1977 Critics Choice,” Joe and Emily Lowe Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, Munson-Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, New York 1977 New Abstract Objects,” Halls Walls, Buffalo, New York 1977 Diamond, Jacquette, Margolis and Ripps-New Work, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York 1977 Painting ’75,’76,’77, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York; American Federation for the Arts, Miami, FL; Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH 1977 Works on Paper, Vick, Klaus, and Rosen Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 1976 Group Exhibition, Towson State College, Towson, MD 1976 “Contemporary Approaches to Painting,” University Museum, University of California at Santa Barbara 1976 “Four Young Artists,” Bykert Gallery, New York 1976 Invitational, OK Harris Gallery, New York PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA Brooklyn Museum, New York IBM Corporation, New York Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA Prudential, New York Rosenthal and Rosenthal, New York Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, New York Ivan Chermayeff, New York Lehman Brothers, New York Miami-Dade College, Miami, FL Amerada-Hess Corporation, New York American Can Company, Greenwich, CT Estee Lauder Corporation, New York General Mills, Minneapolis, MN Freed, Frank, Shriver, New York Chemical Bank, New York Delahunty Gallery, Dallas, TX Best Products, Richmond, VA Skadden, Arps, New York Stephen Paine, Boston, MA Davis, Polk, Wardwell, New York Roger Sonnabend, Boston, MA Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA Zimmerli Archives, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ GRANTS AND AWARDS Temple University Study leave, 1980, 1987,1994, 2002 Visual Arts Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, 1987 Visual Arts Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, 1980 New York State Council for the Arts, 1977 Yaddo Residency Grant, 1976 MacDowell Residency Grant, 1976 Indiana University Fellowship, 1970 CATALOGUES Painting ’75,’76,’77 Critic’s Choice Contemporary Drawing, Philadelphia Thick Paint Margo Margolis, Miami Dade College Exchange III Nature as Image Ground Work Presenze Chemical Bank: An Art Collection in Perspective Margo Margolis, Esso Gallery BIBLIOGRAPHY Richard Lorber, Arts Magazine, September 1976 Art Week, October 23, 1976 Henry J. Seldis, Los Angles Times David Rush, "Paintings with a Sculptural Character," Art Week, October 30, 1976 Allen Ellensweig, Arts Magazine, April 1977 Richard Brugin, New York Arts Journal, September 1977 Mary Delahoyd, "Painting '75, '76, '77" (catalogue essay) 1977 Hayden Herrera, "Critics' Choice," Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery, Syracuse, New York and Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York (catalogue essay) 1977 John Russell, New York Times, June 1978 Carter Ratcliffe, "Thick Paint" University of Chicago, IL (catalogue essay) 1978 Ann Percy, "Contemporary Drawings, Philadelphia," Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (catalogue essay) 1978 Alexandra Anderson, Village Voice, March 26, 1979 Peter Frank, "In One Medium, Out the Other," Village Voice, April 9, 1979 Thomas Lawson, Art in America, October 1979 Karen Valdes, Margo Margolis, Miami-Dade Community College, (catalogue essay) 1979 Print Collector's Newsletter, Spring 1979 Lee Edwards...
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