Elza Jensen is a popular local artist who began his street style graphics in Boulder, Colorado in the early seventies.  At that time labeled strange and avant garde, then later in the seventies his work was embraced and identified with the early punk scene. A self taught artist who moved to San Francisco from Boulder, Colorado in 1976 to start an art noise music group and to apply for a government opportunity grant to enroll at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1977.  After a few unsuccessful attempts at landing a scholarship or a government sponsored grant to attend his only choice in schools, he eagerly discovered screen printing and to also use those inks to paint on clothing like he would his canvasses. 

After striking a vein of reaction in San Francisco, he decided to return to Boulder and Denver with the intent to make a big art bang back home, which made him a sizeable reputation for shock art within Denver throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Directly after starting to sell in shops his work on clothes would coin the term ‘artwear’.   It’s been a life long passion - displaying a serious interest in creative expression since a child, Elza Jensen later has sold his graphic wear world wide over the past 30 years inspiring many large and small within the fashion industry. 

When it comes to graphics and patterns Elza’s varying styles haven’t ceased in genuine and contemporary vibrancy, some sustain an impression of what’s new even 20 years later.  Always having done small scale production, the artist has paid for a tested attitude toward mass production for fear of an almost certain devaluation by the way of saturating markets-generally done on that beaten path of large scale production.  That said, his limited edition scale and format with thousands of variations on his own (un)-norm compositions, deserves an honorable place in Denver’s modern art history. For which he usually states, “What if it mattered?” “I’m so grateful to experiment with my imagination.”

 

Non-toxic water based inks used
Indie/Altero Punk Graphics on Clothing
Trend Repellent for Decades