Elias Mendel is a London-born, Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist who creates stop-motion animations, sculptures, drawings, prints, writing, and performances. He deploys this multifaceted approach to investigate the intersection between dreams, roots, and the abyss, examining legibility, language, diaspora, and belonging. These concerns have emerged from his investigation into a vast family history and archive that grapples with the aftermath of fascism and the Holocaust. Mendel engages with this history through my mark-making, archival research, cataloging, and writing. Alongside his artistic practice, he has a workshop teaching practice, in which he leads arts, archival, and educational workshops.
Mendel completed his MFA at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and studied history and politics at the University of Manchester. He has received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant and was exhibited at the Casablanca Art Biennale. He has also exhibited in London, New York, Berlin, Málaga, and Johannesburg.