Eva O’Leary

Eva O’Leary (b. 1989) is an artist who works primarily with photography and video. Her work navigates structural and social systems that perpetuate ideologies of fantasy, power, and control within American society specifically focused on the impact on young women and their experience in the world. Her work is deeply personal, using her own experiences, memories, and journals as the foundation of her practice.

O’Leary received her BFA from California College of the Arts in 2012 and her MFA from Yale School of Art in 2016. She was the recipient of the Outset Unseen Exhibition Fund in 2019, the Hyères Festival Photographie Grand Prix in 2018, The Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize in 2017, and was named a Foam Talent in 2014. She has exhibited her work internationally, including at the CAFA Art Museum (Beijing), FOAM (Amsterdam), Villa Noailles (Hyeres, France), l’Atelier Néerlandais (Paris), Benaki Museum (Athens), and Aperture Foundation (New York). Her work has been featured in various publications, including ArtForum, Aperture, 1000 Words, and The New Yorker.

Contact

Education

2016 MFA Yale University, New Haven, CT
2012 BFA California College of the Arts, Oakland CA

Awards and Honors

2019 Unseen Amsterdam Outset Exhibition Fund
2018 Hyeres Festival Photographie Grand Prix, Hyeres, France
2018 ING Unseen Talent Award, Amsterdam, Netherlands (finalist)
2017 Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize, Zurich, Switzerland
2014 Foam Talent 2014, Foam International Photography Magazine, NL

Solo Exhibitions

2021 Happy Valley, Centre Photographique, Normandy, France
2020 (03.21.2020 - 09.11.2020), Hesse/ Flatow, online
2019 Happy Valley, Villa Noailles, Hyeres, France
2019 Happy Valley, FOAM Fotographie Museum, Amsterdam
2019 Spitting Image, The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle, Ireland
2019 Spitting Image, Longwood University Art Museum, Virginia
2017 Happy Valley, MEYOHAS, 43-01 21st Street, Queens, New York
2017 Spitting Image, CRUSH CURATORIAL, 526 W 26 Street, NY, New York
2017 CONCEALER, Vontobel, Gotthardstrasse 43, Zurich, Switzerland

Selected Museum Exhibitions

2022 Looking Forward, Pier 24, San Francisco, CA
2022 I am here, Art Gallery of Ontario, San Francisco, CA
2021 Saturation, Crawford Museum, Ireland
2021 Young Adult, Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA
2020 Athens Photography Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
2019 Spitting Image, The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle, Ireland (Solo exhibition)
2019 Spitting Image, Longwood University Art Museum, Virginia (Solo exhibition)
2018 3rd Beijing Biennial, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 Looking Forward, Pier 24, San Francisco, CA
2021 Face Control, curated by Urs Stahel, Fundacion Foto Colectania, Barcelona, Spain
2021 Saturation, Crawford Museum, Ireland
2021 Young Adult, Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA
2020 Athens Photography Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
2020 Reset, FUTURES, online exhibition
2019 Looking Back, Pier 24, San Francisco, CA
2019 Snap Judgements, Gallery of Photography, Dublin, Ireland
2019 Close to Home, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Radial Survey, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA
2018 3rd Beijing Biennial, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing
2018 ING Unseen Talent Award, Unseen Amsterdam
2018 Everyday Muse, LTD, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Said by her, Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, NY
2018 HYERES Festival, Villa Noailles, Hyeres, France
2018 Camouflflage, deceive, imitate, Curated by Josiane Imhasly, Old Factory, Zurich
2017 Visible Range, Deli Gallery, NY
2017 Public Installation for Biblioteca Panizzi, Curated by Luca Massaro, Reggio Emilia, Italy
2017 Fondo Malerba per la Fotografifia, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan, Italy
2017 We Need To Talk, Petzel Gallery, New York, NY
2017 Winter, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York, NY
2016 The Castle of Perseverance, Curated by Molly Surno, CRUSH Curatorial, Amagansett, NY
2016 REVIVER, ASHES/ ASHES, Los Angeles, CA
2016 REVIVER, Johalla Projects, Chicago, IL
2016 REVIVER, Danziger Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Treading Water, TGIF Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC
2015 Black Mirror, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY
2015 20/20 Vision, Nominated by Seth Curcio, Christophe Guye Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2015 Benaki Museum, Athens Photography Festival 2015, Athens, Greece
2014 OPEN, Curated by Shane Lavalette, The Center for Fine Art Photography, CO
2014 FOAM Talent 2014, East Wing Gallery, Dubai
2014 FOAM Talent 2014, Unseen Photo Fair, Amsterdam
2014 FOAM Talent 2014, L’Atelier Neerlandais, Paris
2014 FRAMES, Curated by Hank Willis Thomas, Glasgow International Festival for Contemporary Art, Scotland
2014 First Year MFA Exhibition, Yale School of Art, Green Gallery, New Haven, CT
2014 Inaugural, 321 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013 Wexford Opera Festival, EXTRA, Ireland
2013 Daniel Cooney Gallery, Emerging Artists Auction, NYC
2013 White Boys, Curated by Hank Willis Thomas and Natasha Logan, Haverford College, PA
2013 89+, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
2013 Some New Work in an Abandoned Apartment, Brooklyn, NY
2013 Signal Gallery, BLOG RE: BLOG, New York, NYC
2013 7 Dunham, Cover The Walls, Brooklyn, NY
2013 The Irish Cultural Center, New York, NY
2013 Project Basho, Onward Compe, Philadelphia, PA
2013 7 Dunham, Girls, Girls, Girls, Brooklyn, NY
2012 13/45, North Gallery, Oakland, CA
2012 Ramon’s Tailor, San Francisco, CA
2012 Hub Robison Center, The Decades Show, State College, PA
2012 P.O Gallery, The Dying Salon, Oakland CA
2012 Zoller Gallery, State College, PA

Seleted Online and Print Publications

2022 “How Not to take a Photograph”, Aperture, Jason Fulford, curator.
2020 TIME Magazine, September 10, 2020. Online.
2020 “Eva O’Leary: On Process”, The Messy Truth Podcast, Episode 15, Gem Fletcher. Online.
2019 “Eva O’Leary: Being Truthful With Yourself”, Emmazed, Mo Mfinanga. December 21, 2019. Online.
2019 “Eva O’Leary”, Monopol, Anika Meier. December 2019. Print.
2019 “Eva O’Leary / Spitting Image”, Circa Magazine. Darren Caffrey. Online.
2018 ”Spitting Image”, Les Inrocks, Constance Vilanova. June 2018. Online.
2018 “Le (Mauvais) Reve Americain“, Le Magazine du Monde, April 29, 2018. Print.
2018 “Eva O’Leary wins the Hyeres Festival Photographie Grand Prix”, British Journal of Photography, Diane Smyth. April 30, 2018. Online.
2017 “Eva O’Leary”, Zeit Magazin, Andreas, Wellneitz. October 12, 2017. Print.
2017 “Eva O’Leary”, Camera Austria International, Issue 140, Sabine Weier. Print.
2017 “Art In America”, The Outline, Antwaun Sargent. February 27, 2017. Online.
2017 “Young Women Face the Camera Head-on in a Stark Photo Series”, CREATORS, Antwaun Sargent. May 3, 2017. Online.
2017 “Eva O’Leary”, Fondo Malerba per la Fotografia, Frank Franca. 2017. Print
2017 “Eva O’Leary”, Maade Magazine, Issue 05, Yevgeniya Baras. Print.
2017 “Critics’ Pick: Eva O’Leary”, ArtForum, Juliana Halpert. April 21, 2017. Online.
2017 “Eva O’Leary at Meyohas”, The New Yorker, Will Heinrich. October 16, 2017. Print.
2017 “Eva O’Leary”, Elephant Magazine, Ariela Glitten. September 2017, Print and Online.
2017 “5 Exhibitions to See in May”, Aperture, Amelia Rina. May 10, 2017. Online.
2017 “Blicke unter die glatte Oberflache”, Der Landbote, Angelika Maass. March 29, 2017. Print.
2016 “How Eva O’Leary’s Photographs Challenge the Metaphor of Surface and Beauty”, The Fader, Maya Baroody. October 21, 2016. Online.
2016 “Eva O’Leary’s Striking Images Tackle Consumerism and Masculinity”, It’s Nice That, Rebecca Fulleylove. September 1, 2016. Online.
2016 “Eva O’Leary”, Aint—Bad Magazine, Ricardo Nagaoka. August 23, 2016. Online.
2016 “10 Women Photographers Who Are Changing The Way We See The World”, Huffington Post, Priscilla Frank. August 13, 2016. Online.
2016 “Identity and Experience Are Examined Through the Portraiture of Eva O’Leary”, VICE Photo Issue, Elizabeth Renstrom. August 8, 2016. Print.
2016 “10 Yale Art Student Graduates Explore the Future of Photography”, The Creators Project. July 11, 2016. Online.
2016 “The Best Photography from Yale’s MFA Students”, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Jamie Sims. May 12, 2016. Online.
2016 “Eva O’Leary”, The Latent Image, Max Marshall. September 5, 2016. Online.
2015 “Eva O’Leary’s Photos of Unnatural Nature”, VICE Magazine, Matthew Leifheit. May 6, 2015. Print and Online.
2014 “FOAM Talent 2014”, FOAM Magazine. Print.
2014 “Eva O’Leary’s Beautiful, Strange Images Capture our Imagination”, It’s Nice That, Maisie Skidmore. May 2014. Online.
2014 “Eva O’Leary and Harry Griffin”, BLINK Magazine 30, December 2013. Print.
2013 “Devils Den: Harry Griffin and Eva O’Leary”, DIS Magazine. August 5, 2013. Online.

Residencies

2012 Tyrone Guthrie Center, Annaghmakerrig, Ireland

Colophon

Design: Ben Fehrman-Lee
Development: Julia Novitch