Eva Lis is a Polish born artist living and working in Hackney, East London.
Eva Lis' work explores issues of globalization, consumerism and constructions of socio-political morality. Lis is an AHRC award recipient and in June 2010 graduated from the Slade UCL with an MA in sculpture and was awarded the Prankerd-Jones Memorial Prize.
Her past projects include 'Travelling Light' at the 53rd Venice Biennale with WW Gallery and Pharos; 'The Universe Project' multimedia art project commissioned by the Grimm film production in Oslo; 'Parade of the Denizens' a horse drawn art exhibition in collaboration with Ed Pien; 'Visions of Excess' exploitation video project in collaboration with Paul Redfearn; SEK-Kulturverein-Art Studios, Berlin, ongoing collective multimedia art project. She is represented by WW Gallery.
2009 “Is There Anybody There?”, WW gallery, London (sept-nov)
2009 “Summer Exhibitionists”, WW gallery, London (june-july)
2009 “Travelling Light”, WW Gallery/Pharos, London and Venice Biennale (collateral event)
2009 “Parental Guidance”, WW gallery, London (march-april)
2009 "Chiaroscuro" Pharos Gallery, London (dec)
2008 “I Saw Three Ships”, WW gallery, London (nov-dec)
2008 “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night”, WW gallery, London (sep-oct)
Residencies
Skoki, Poland, May 2009
Merz Barn, Lake District, UK 2009
Heals, Tottenham Court Rd, London, 2010
Awards
Prankerd-Jones Memorial Prize 2010
Bibliography
2009 Catalogue for the collateral exhibtion Travelling Light at the 53rd Venice Biennale.
Publications
Parade of the Denizens
Artist's Statement "There are elements of folk and carnival art in my practice - echoes of my fierce, rural upbringing. I am interested in migration and displacement and its effects on perception, the self and also on the landscape; how an individual becomes the product of cultural crossbreeding through their 'journeys' and what kind of objects and artworks are produced by such cultural influences.
The works shown in the exhibition 'I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night' complete silkscreen fragments from the western cultural canon with work in my own hand. Rather than attempt to unify stylistically my contributions with the canon, I exaggerate the gulf between the two.
My punk scrawls here are in concert with the labour intense designs. This arranged marriage of style reflects cultural differences that exist within society. It is informed by my own experience immigration, attempt to fit in, create connection with a history that we have nothing to do with.
My believe is that historical baggage is oppressively weighty whatever your relation to it. The force of objective culture works against spontaneity in artistic creation. The over-emphasised 'primitiveness' of my drawings marks an effort to overcome this force, while recognising the tension implicit in the competition and directness of expression."
Review "Eva Lis uses an extremely economic style of line drawing that gives faces anonymity by reducing them to basic features. These drawings look like they’re traced from photographs – either from newspapers, or a personal archive.
Lis, whose other projects include travelling around the M25 London orbital in a reflective black wagon drawn by a gypsy-like pony, explains on her website how her experience as an immigrant has been a 'ghost-life', fuelled by dreams, and the title of this work, together with the headless, mannequin-like figures, certainly conveys a sense that one's identity is lost in this process.
The particular can be found through the universal, and vice versa, and this image, entitled TEAM, looks exactly like one that can be found on my brother's wall at home. And probably your brother's. Or yours, a friend's, cousin's, or boyfriend's, as each member and each face is interchangeable with any member of a group of boys: a football team, a group of friends, a university or school photo. A pro-forma, identikit model for male sociality, if you like."
Best Artists of the Week in Art Review by Laura McLean-Ferris This text is abridged, for full article, click here
