Alex Echo

Alex Echo was born in the USA, in Colorado, on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. Alex now lives full time in the UK, on a farm in West Sussex with his daughter, Jazzi-Bella. Alex has been a professional artist for over 35 years, painting simply because he loves to. In those 35 years he has embraced a constant sense of learning, learning more about his own art and art history in general.

“I feel it to be a great gift in my life to be a part of and to carry on in the craft and tradition of the artists who have inspired me and have come before”

The genesis of all of Alex’s work is nature – nature with a deep respect for art history and a profound desire to create something new and original. Artists from all genres - from Pre-Raphaelite, and Impressionism, to Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism, to Art Nouveau and Pop Art have all inspired him and informed his artwork.

Alex Echo’s artwork is unique and instantly recognisable, using a technique that has never been seen before. His paintings resonate with the beauty and history of Impressionism, yet they speak with a contemporary voice and structure of abstraction and even minimalism. Trying to synthesise the many schools of painting that he has admired over the years, Alex’s paintings seek to find a balance between the past and present, history and the contemporary. Each of his artworks is a ballet between light, water, colour and time, and Alex trys to capture all in each new painting. Every artwork is built up from several thousand brushstrokes and movements. Every painting is an attempt to see and feel that dance of colour, and light reflected in a flower, a tree, a hillside or the sea. Now a full-time resident, Alex says that he is deeply in love with England:

“I am in love with this sea faring island nation. It is a lush garden fully surrounded by endless sea views, sunrises and sunsets. I try with my paintings to honour this place -this England where my young daughter is growing up. There is an endless supply of inspiration here - an unlimited palette and viewpoint. I am lucky to be here.”

In honour of his respect for the country and landscape around him, Alex strives to work as green and sustainably as possible, using the highest quality water based paints available. The resin he uses to create his unique “liquid effect” is as non-toxic, and low carbon footprint as the technology currently allows. The drips and spills of the paint falling off the sides of each artwork are even collected and saved after they have dried to be used in future, large scale paintings. In Alex’s studio nothing is wasted.

Alex Echo’s artwork is highly collectable and can be found in the collections of people as varied as HSH Prince Rainier of Monaco, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Downey Jr., Cindy Crawford, and former President Jimmy Carter. His work both small and very large scale can be found in numerous corporate and private collections around the world.

Charity work and the support of his local community are very important to Alex. Through his artwork he has had the great opportunity to give back to the world that has brought him such success, inspired greatly by his beloved daughter. The sale of Alex’s artwork has contributed over £850,000+ to various organisations and institutions including The Princess Grace Foundation, The Prince’s Trust, Teenage Cancer Trust, Nordoff Robbins, Aids Project Los Angeles, AMFAR, The Elton John Aids Foundation and, most recently, WaterAid. Alex is also very proud of the sale of 10 of his paintings at the Wallace Collection in London, from which all the proceeds were given toward the rebuilding of a school and dormitory in south western China after this region was devastated by an earthquake. This afforded him the opportunity to travel to one of the most remote regions of China and to meet some of the children who now have a new and safe place to study and grow.

New projects on the horizon for Alex include working with the World Food Program, UNICEF and the United Nations. Alex has worked on exciting collaborative projects with iconic fashion designer, Sir Paul Smith, who developed a fabric design from one of Alex’s paintings. “Classic With A Twist” was used by Paul Smith as a principle print design for his 2011 Couture Women’s Wear line. Alex was able to watch his artwork walk down the catwalk during London Fashion Week. At the request of legendary recording artist and guitarist Eric Clapton in 2012, Alex Echo painted one of Clapton’s own Fender Stratocasters, which was auctioned to benefit the recovery facility The Crossroads Centre in Antigua, founded by Eric Clapton, raising £20,000 for the charity.

“Basically my artwork is dedicated to my daughter, and to her generation and generations to come – and to the new paradigm of “green and sustainable”, to a healthy earth. It is dedicated to the beauty of England and the world as a whole. I don’t need to say anything with my art - but hopefully my artwork will inspire anyone who sees it to look at the world as a beautiful and mysterious finite place. A place to be loved and protected.”