Artist and lecturer, full name Michael James Elliott, born into a working-class background in London. At 16, he decided to paint, and with London County Council funding attended Camberwell School of Art, then for three years the Slade School of Fine Art, including a postgraduate year. After graduating in 1957 he married fellow-student Robina Evans and with a French government grant they lived in Paris, Elliott exhibiting with various galleries, including Gimpel Fils, London. From 1959 until his death Elliott returned to teach at Camberwell. In the early 1960s with Brian Elliott he established a studio and silkscreen workshop, around which the Constructivist group Ko5 was formed. It led to exhibitions and contacts abroad, such as the revolutionary South American Group Mardi.