My work explores aesthetic, historical, and environmental themes through experimentation with a diverse range of media. Juxtapositions and contrasts—such as handmade vs high-tech and playfulness vs serious inquiry—are key to my practice. My various bodies of work encompass multimedia painting, works on paper, and functional sculpture. Sources that inform my work include 19th century botanical research in the Brazilian rainforest, Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, American color field painting, and the history of deforestation and land management.

Certain abstract visual elements such as circles, bands of color, and specific chromatic uses—are emblematic of my work, and are grounded in aesthetic choices backed by extensive research. The circular shapes in my paintings are derived from the simple tree icons used by landscape architects. The abstracted forest canopy, with its myriad colors, shapes, and types of trees, provides both the visual pleasure and content of my work. Bands and grids of color in cyanotype blue make reference to the iconography of 19th century botanical research and serve to balance the composition.

My works on paper offer a more direct allusion to early botanical research by combining cyanotype photography and Victorian border motifs, thereby situating these images in a liminal space between the past and present. In some of these works, fields of Klein Blue painted across photographs of tree trunks allude to forestry management tree marking codes, with blue indicating that the tree is to be spared. Both my paintings and works on paper hinge on critical binaries in contemporary art: our perception of beauty in organic images and natural materials, together with an interest in historic representations of nature; technological progress versus its high cost to the ecosystem.

My research also delves into how goods from colonial times such as coffee, gold, sugar, rubber and precious stones shaped environments and communities: the environmental impact of these commodities on the Brazilian landscape is a vital aspect of my work.

My 3D work incorporates gambiarra, a Portuguese term for a makeshift problemsolving style that is typically Brazilian. Gambiarra describes a way of doing things generally necessitated by or alluding to a lack of tools and inspired by a tradition of resourcefulness. I also make use of upcycling and readymades within a Post-Minimalist framework. Much of this group of work addresses issues within Brazilian society that have become globally relevant, such as violence, security, drug trafficking, poor urban infrastructure, and environmental degradation.

All in all, my art practice draws upon cultural hybridization—the blending of elements from different cultures. I feel that without cultural hybridization, the world we live in would not be anywhere near as interesting and integrated as it is today. By studying this phenomenon through iconography and material culture we can better understand how the melting pot of cultures from Europe, Africa, and Asia shaped modern day Brazil as well as other countries worldwide.

Multidisciplinary Artist David Elia was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1982.

David has received critical acclaim in a variety of projects. He is one of the spearheads of new movements of creative hybrid professionals who offer innovative works, which mix the best of contemporary and functional art.

Standout projects to date include the 2011 Stray Bullet and 2013 Bulletproof collections. In November 2014 his work was included in the exhibition “New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Art and Craft in Latin America” at the Museum of Arts & Design in New York. Elia’s Stray Bullet chair and Bullet Proof side table were chosen and recognized to position individuals and collaboratives in several distinct cities as laboratories where some of the most pertinent new directions in design and craft are emerging today.

Recently the studio represented Brazil at the 2018 London Design Biennale.

David Elia attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Summer Program in 2002, and received his Bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Brandeis University in 2004. In 2007 Elia earned a Master’s degree in interior architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In 2009, he received a Master’s degree in design from Milan’s Domus Academy.

David now works and lives in the South of France where he has his new studio. Previously, In 2010 and 2016 respectively, David had his studio in Rio de Janeiro and London.

Elia’s work is included in multiple collections; the permanent collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Museum of Arts & Design in New York, the François Pinault Collection, Paris, the Elton John Art Collection, London and the Paula Cussi Latin American Art Collection, Madrid among others. He is the recipient of an IF Materials Design Award (2010).

2019

Marche et Démarche. Une Histoire de la Chaussure - Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

Fréres de Chaise - Centre Culturel Arcade, Sainte Colombe en Auxois

2018

Emotional States - London Design Biennale, London

MAD Collects: The Future of Craft Part 1 – MAD Museum, New York

2017

Open Studio - London Design Festival, London

2016

New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Art and Craft in Global Latin America – Amparo Museum, Mexico

New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Art and Craft in Global Latin America – Albuquerque Museum of Art, New Mexico

2015

Design da Gema: Manifeste Carioca – Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

Rio de Janeiro, May 2014 – Collective Design Fair, New York

2014

New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Art and Craft in Global Latin America – MAD Museum, New York

2012

“Bobina” Natural color Tray sold at the MoMA Design Store during Springtime – New York

2009

MA Design, Domus Academy – Italy

2007

MIA, Masters Interior Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design – USA

2004

BA, Fine Arts, Brandeis University – USA

2002

Certificate Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design Summer Program – USA

2000

French Baccalaureat, L – Lycee Albert 1er – Monaco

2011

A’ Design Award in Arts, Crafts and Ready-Made Design – Italy

2010

International Forum Materials Design Award – Germany

2004

Esther Pine Memorial Prize in Fine Arts - Brandeis University - USA

Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts Grant - Brandeis University - USA

The François Pinault Collection – Paris, France

Charity Auction by Brazil-Monaco Project, “Desmatamento” Chair sold for 18,000 Eur – Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Paula Cussi Latin American Art Collection – Madrid, Spain

Musée des Arts Décoratifs – Paris, France

Museum of Arts & Design (MAD Museum) – New York, USA

The Sir Elton John Art Collection – London, United Kingdom

Ramirez, Rangel, Perez and Sims. “New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Art and Craft in Global Latin America”. Turner. December 2014

Elisabeth Darby. “Re-Issue Re-Imagine Re-Make: Appropriation in Contemporary Furniture Design”. Lund Humphries. October 2020