Eva O'Leary

|Lecturer
Academic Appointments

Lecturer of Studio Art

Eva O'Leary is a visual 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 experiences 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), Aperture Foundation (New York), and Pier 24 in San Francisco. Her work has been featured in various publications, including ArtForum, Aperture, 1000 Words, and The New Yorker.

Contact

Visual Arts Center, Room 305
HB 6081

Department(s)

Studio Art, Studio Art

Education

  • MFA Yale University
  • BFA California College of the Arts
  • 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 Museum Exhibitions

    2019    Spitting Image, The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle, Ireland

    2019    Spitting Image, Longwood University Art Museum, Virginia

       

  • Group 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

    2018    3rd Beijing Biennial, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing

      

  • Solo Exhibitions

    2021    Happy Valley, Centre Photographique, Normandy, France

    2020   (03.21.2020 - 09.11.2020), Hesse/ Flatow, NYC, 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 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

      

  • Selected Publications

    2022    "How Not to take a Photograph", Aperture, Jason Fulford, curator.

    2021     Looking Forward, Pier 24

    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 (Cover), 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.

      

  • Speaking Engagements

    2019    FOAM Fotographie Museum, Amsterdam (Public Lecture)

    2019    Longwood University Art Museum, Lecture Series (Public Lecture)

    2019    University of Alabama, Lecture Series (Public Lecture)

    2018    Unseen Amsterdam Artist, Lecture Series  (Public Lecture)

    2017    Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize, Zurich, Switzerland (Public Lecture with Urs Stahel)