Eva Brá Barkardóttir is an Icelandic artist based in London. She has a BA in fashion design from Iceland Academy of the Arts (2012) and an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art (2021). She is a 2020 recipient of the Chelsea Arts Club Trust grant.
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The scenes in Eva’s work are half-obscured symbols, warnings and messages. She is interested in how nature functions fundamentally and the interconnectedness of it all, looking for patterns and meanings hidden beyond the directly visible.
Drawing inspiration from dystopian narratives in popular culture, folk tales and mythologies, her work examines imagined ecologies and indecipherable symbols from beyond the veil. Through surreal methods, connections are found and lost again. Eva explores the delicate balance between structure and chaos, transforming failure into rituals of rebirth.
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With a background in fashion design, an obsession with textiles and drapery is central to Eva’s practice, which actively engages in the ongoing discourse surrounding femininity and the construction of female identity with work that intersects painting, performance, photography and sculpture.
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Eva is the co-founder of inhouse art and Elm as well as being the founder of Anddyri Reykjavík. Inhouse is a curatorial project showcasing early to mid career artists work at True House in London. Elm is a female led floral and horticultural design collective and Anddyri is an experimental pop-up art space. Her work has been acquired by private collectors in England, Iceland and Germany.
Education
2023 - 2024
CERTIFICATE IN HORTICULTURE, CAPEL MANOR COLLEGE
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2019 - 2021
MA FINE ART, CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS
2018 - 2019
FINE ART GRADUATE DIPLOMA, CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS
2013 - 2015
MA ART EDUCATION, ICELAND ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
JANUARY 2015 - JUNE 2015
ERASMUS EXCHANGE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, JAN EVANGELISTA PURKYNÄš UNIVERSITY
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2008 - 2012
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN FASHION DESIGN, ICELAND ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
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Selected Exhibitions and projects
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2024 - 'Open Wide' Open205 Gallery, Deptford
2024 - Layers exhibition at the Steamships project space, curated by Flos collective
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2024 - In the water at the Old bath house in Hampton Wick. A group exhibition by the Shop Front, curated by Lizzie Cardozo
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2024 - Hypha studios. Co-curation and exhibition.
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2023 - Deptford X festival. The 25th anniversary edition.
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2023 - 'You must be hungry' at the Old Courthouse, Stroud. Curated by Holly English and Madeleine Staples
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2023 - 'thumb2' at Ladder space Copenhagen in collaboration with mpaacc (multi-resent anti-aggressive communal computer)
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2023 - Dual Transits - Exhibition with Julia White, Frogley rd, East Dulwich
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2023 - Vegsummerki/ Traces in Anddyri Reykjavík. An exhibition in Iceland with Maryam Hina Hasnain, Holly English and Anders Aarvik.
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2023 - Altered Planes, a Chelsea College alumni exhibition kindly supported by Metre Squared
2023 - 13 Soho square, end of residency exhibition
2023 - The Earth Vision residency, a two month residency in Soho.
2022 - Elephant Arcade, a pop up exhibition with 6 Chelsea alumni, kindly supported by Meanwhile Space
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2022 - Áferð//Texture in Anddyri Reykjavík, a solo show in a conceptual pop up gallery in Iceland
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2022 - True House, works on show in True Global's headquarters in Buckingham Gate
2021 - Revenge of the Real at Rupture Exhibit and Kate Howe Studios. Curated by Lizzie Cardoso, Julia White and Stephen Nulty
2021 - Chelsea College of Arts degree show for 19/20 and 20/21 MA Fine Art students
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2021 - Language - Art Project 2020-1 UAL
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2021 - MOSTYN Gallery / My Online Bedroom in collaboration with Queer Direct
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2020 - Late at Tate - Short film shown in a set of one-minute film compilation by about 70 artist from Chelsea College
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2020 - The Waiting Residency - A conceptual artist residency founded by artist Claudia Sambo
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2020 - Portportlandland September Issue - Featured in issue 196 Open Borders
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2020 - The Shop Front 285 group exhibition with emerging artists from CCW and RCA
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2020 - Chelsea Arts Club exhibition with current recipients of the CAC trust.
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2020 - Exhibition collaboration with Holly English in SVA gallery Stroud, (Now imagine) you are old and a friend is brushing your hair
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2020 - Charity auction for the Chelsea Arts Club Trust at Chelsea Arts Club, painting donated for the charity auction
2020 - Group exhibition, Hanover Space - We need to talk about it
2020 - Launched a spare room gallery in my flat in south London with two other artists, Hanover Space (instagram: @hanover_space)
2020 - Group exhibition, 10 MAFA students, Cookhouse gallery - Mapping
2019 - Group exhibition for the end of MAFA first term, Chelsea College of Arts - Unit 1
2019 - Part of a 6 person curatorial team for the end of first term exhibition, Chelsea College of Arts
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2019 - Group exhibition, 10 MAFA students, Cookhouse gallery - Side Bar
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2019 - Graduation show from Graduate Diploma in Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts - Final Art
2019 - Group exhibition in Safehouse gallery - Safehouse 1 and 2
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Awards
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2019 - Material and research award from the Chelsea Arts Club Trust
http://www.chelseaartsclubtrust.org/eva-bra-barkardottir/
Publications
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2020 - The Norn issue - A body of critical articles looking into spiritual botany, sustainability in the arts, witchcraft and feminism
2020 - Portportlandland September Issue - Featured in issue 196 Open Borders
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MAFAzine - an online zine publication by MA Fine Art students from Chelsea College of Arts
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