Helen Eager (born 27 September 1952, Sydney, Australia)[1] is an Australian artist with an exhibition history of over 40 years. Her work 'Tango' was selected for the Inaugural Circular Quay Foyer Wall Commission at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Sydney in 2011.[2] An initial temporary site-specific commission, 'Tango' is now permanently on display in a new location at MCA.[2] Eager's paintings, works on paper, video's and prints are held in national and state collections, including National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia.[3][4]
Education
editEager first studied art at the South Australian School or Arts in Adelaide from 1972 to 1975. Accepting a Visual Arts Board Grant for study in Europe and United States; she studied at Kala Art Institute, from 1981 to 1982.[5] She completed her Masters of Visual Arts at College of Fine Art, New South Wales in 1990, and an artist residency at the Greene Street Studio, New York, in 1988.[6]
Early work
editEager first became known for her paintings of familiar objects such as chairs, tea cups and vases. Manipulating color and light, "her art makes us more responsive to, and even wary of, otherwise benign interiors."[7]
From 1988 Eager work leaned more and more to abstraction. Her compositions explore links between shapes. For ten years those shapes were triangles,[6] although the shapes are currently multi-sided. The interplay between color and light recurs in Eager's abstract work.[2] Her 2021 survey of 40 years of drawing articulated these developments.
Exhibitions
editEager held solo exhibitions at Sydney's Watters Gallery between 1977 and 1991[5] and Utopia Art Sydney from 2009.[6] Other solo exhibitions were held in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide.[5] She has been the subject of 33 solo exhibitions and been included in a 146 group or multi-artist exhibitions.[8]
Eager was represented by Watters Gallery in the early part of her career. From 2009 she has been represented by Utopia Art Sydney.[9] Eager will hold an exhibition of work with Utopia Art Sydney in September and October 2024.
As a print-maker and painter, Eager has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the Tokyo Print Biennale, Japan, 1979, and Sydney Contemporary, 2019, Carriageworks, Sydney.[6]
Eager is one of ten artists participating in the Dobell Drawing Biennial 2024 at the AGNSW[10] New England Regional Art Gallery will hold a career survey exhibition in October 2024
Vivid 2022
edit
Eager was announced as creating a light work to be projected onto the Museum of Contemporary Art as a centerpiece of the Vivid 2021 Light Festival.[11] Due to the Covid pandemic, Vivid was postponed from 2021 until 2022, opening May 27. [12] The work New York Sunday was an 8.30 min long, constantly changing and morphing representation of Eager's career, accompanied by the electronic music of Peter Mac. It was described as "a sure crowd pleaser" and "one of the highlights of the Festival" [13]
Media
editEager was profiled in Art Collector [14]and Artist Profile magazines [15] in 2021. Her work from "Intersections" was used on the cover of Art Almanac in 2015[16]
Critical Response
editAccording to John Macdonald, Art Critic of the Sydney Morning Herald writing in the 2018 Good Weekend "there's no reason to hesitate" when considering acquiring an Eager work.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Helen Eager". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ a b c "Circular Quay Foyer Wall Commission | MCA Australia". www.mca.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ Eager, Helen Hodges. "not titled [seated figure, table and building]". Item held by National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "Artists: Helen Eager". NGV. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Germaine, Max (1991). A dictionary of women artists of Australia. Roseville East, NSW, Australia: Craftsman House. p. 126. ISBN 976-8097-13-2. OCLC 26591029.
- ^ a b c d "Helen Eager | utopia art sydney". www.utopiaartsydney.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "Women's Art Register Bulletin". Trove. 1988. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "Helen Eager | Utopia Art Sydney | Artists". utopiaartsydney.com.au. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Helen Eager | Utopia Art Sydney | Artists". utopiaartsydney.com.au. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Infinite | Art Gallery of NSW". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ Leake, Rosy (21 June 2021). "Helen Eager to shine in Vivid 2021". Art Collector Magazine. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Lights on for Vivid Sydney 2022". media.destinationnsw.com.au. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ Utopia Art Sydney (23 May 2024). VIVID SYDNEY Helen Eager NEW YORK SUNDAY. Retrieved 31 July 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ Wagstaff, Camilla (5 May 2020). "Helen Eager: Keeping Composure". Art Collector Magazine. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Helen Eager". Artist Profile. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Helen Eager: Intersections". Art Almanac. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Helen Eager - Utopia Art, Sydney". John McDonald. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2024.