Elliott Flanagan is an artist whose work draws on his experiences growing up in Burnley, and his former lives as a footballer, holiday rep and salesman. Moving between autobiography, popular culture and art history, he explores working-class identity, aspiration and the boundaries between so-called high and low culture. His practice finds humour, beauty and moments of transformation in everyday experiences, challenging received ideas about taste, class and cultural belonging.

His current work revisits a summer spent as a Club 18–30 rep, reconsidering a world often characterised by excess, bad behaviour and package-holiday hedonism. Beyond these familiar stereotypes, Flanagan sees the possibility of escape from small-town life: encounters with glamour, beauty, new people and places, and opportunities for self-discovery and reinvention. 

He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Tate Liverpool, BALTIC, HOME and the Venice Biennale, and is Curatorial Associate for Wales in Venice 2026.