Jaan Elken was born in Krasnoyarsk Krai in 1954 following his family’s deportation to Russia in 1949. His family eventually returned to their home country of Estonia where Jaan graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1977. He furthered his training in painting between 1979 and 1981 via a scholarship. He taught painting in various local institutions: the Tallinn Pedagogical Institute (1987–1988), the Estonian Academy of Arts (1988–1997) and the Institute for Cultural Research and Fine Arts at the University of Tartu (1997–2017). He has been professor emeritus at the University of Tartu since 2018.
The beginning of his career saw him take up positions in local government: first as an architect in the Tallinn Central Government of Architecture and Planning (1977–1979) and then as art historian-controller in the Tallinn Cultural Government (1980–1987).
Initially adopting a hyper-realist style in the 1970s, Elken went on to become one of his country’s best-known abstract painters. His art is extremely textural, material and so heavily layered as to have an almost ‘dirty’ appearance. Using striped visual motifs and techniques to guide the viewer, the painter complements his mainly black, white and grey creations with textual additions. His overall composition is reminiscent of pin boards full of flyers and posters that have been torn out or replaced or that have worn away over time.
A multifaceted cultural figure, Elken has published numerous writings on topics in his field, from art criticism to policy. He has served as head of the Estonian Painters’ Union (1995–1999) and president of the Estonian Artists’ Association (1999–2013).