Biography
Derek Eland is a multi media artist whose work is an interrogation of his subject matter, most recently his conversation pieces with soldiers on the front line. His work combines a degree in Politics and an MA in Contemporary Fine Art. He is also an international expert in culture change.
In 2011 he worked as an official war artist embedded with 16 Air Assault Brigade in Helmand, Afghanistan. His 'Afghanistan War Diary' work resulted from the month he spent on the front line with British and Afghan forces and is touring the UK as a solo exhibition which started at the Imperial War Museum in Manchester in October 2011.
Derek Eland's art is primarily about using creative ways of engaging with communities and groups of people who are involved in stressful, demanding and complex situations. His aim is to enable issues to be explored and uncovered using a range of media, and to present the resulting work to the public to create a reaction and change perceptions and behaviours.
He has exhibited widely, notably at The Lowry's 'One Love' exhibition in Manchester in 2006-2007, the Kathmandu 'Open Door' exhibition in 2008. He has also exhibited at the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art and his work was shortlisted for the international Celeste Art Prize in 2007 as well as extensively throughout the UK. His work was selected to be part of 'Sedition' at Carlisle's Tullie House in 2010. This exhibition celebrated some of the most innovative contemporary art being produced and for the artist was the culmination of the 'Love Carlisle' project which he founded in 2007 to challenge what people really thought about the city.
Residencies have included with Carlisle City Council and the town of Cockermouth as it sought to recover from the floods of 2009 where his art was used alongside the poems of Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney and Andrew Motion. He has work in a number of public collections worldwide including Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008, North West Region Development Agency and the Argentina Football Association in Buenos Aries.
