HIX ART is presenting, “I know you are but what am I”, a presentation of new work by Elizabeth Eade, winner of the 2018 HIX Award. Eade is primarily an installation artist, and in this exhibition – her first major solo show – she explores her attitude towards a range of social and political issues, some serious, some frivolous. This oscillatory approach is embodied in two of the featured installations.
Part of winning the HIX Award is the opportunity to have a solo exhibition at HIX ART
People who’ve pissed me off is a kinetic installation, which sporadically produces the names of people who have pissed Eade off. Included amongst the thousands of people featured in this work are the Kardashians, Piers Morgan, almost all of her friends and Pol Pot. Each name is given equal weight and eventually disappears from view. Playful and acerbic, it invites the viewer to share or repute Eade’s subjective prejudices, while also creating a portrait of herself – or, as she puts it, a visual display of ‘a mind at boiling point’.
An altogether more serious note is struck by Net Realisable Value, (NRV). The artist was compelled to produce this piece in response to the deaths of 26 teenage girls who, it is believed were being trafficked from Nigeria into the sex industry. All were found drowned off the coast of Italy in 2017. It is comprised of an identical number of clay and copper figures, which were immersed in seawater, an interaction that resulted in the formation of green crystals on the surfaces. Two of the girls were pregnant, which is revealed in the sculptures. On another, Eade has engraved “I’m super happy”, the upbeat slogan that featured on one of the girl’s T-shirts. ‘NRV’ is a term used by insurance companies for lost and damaged goods, and chillingly, the artist shows the method of calculating this loss – the net realisable value – to accompany the installation. The final sentence reads ‘This is what the inventory was worth to you’.
Says Sophie Harriott, Director, HIX ART: ‘Part of winning the HIX Award is the opportunity to have a solo exhibition at HIX ART, and we are privileged to be showing this compelling and potent body of work by this extraordinarily gifted artist.’
Elizabeth Eade received a BA in Fine Art from Cambridge School of Art and an MA in Fine Art from the University of Brighton. In 2018 she won the celebrated HIX Award with her work Die Liste, and has since exhibited her work in numerous groups shows while working towards her inaugural solo exhibition at HIX ART. Eade has participated in several talks for institutions including the Brighton Museum and Cambridge University; as well receiving a commission by Brighton and Hove council to make a public artwork for permanent display in Brighton.
HIX ART was established by the restaurateur and author Mark Hix in 2012. It is located in the basement of Tramshed on Rivington Street in Shoreditch, London, and is run by Director Sophie Harriott. It stages up to eight exhibitions annually, and its curatorial programme embraces a wide range of artists, from the established to the undiscovered.
The HIX Award is an annual art prize set up by the restaurateur and author Mark Hix in 2013. The award is open to current students and recent graduates of UK art colleges. It was created to give young artists a platform to showcase their work and take their first steps in their professional careers. It carries a £10,000 first prize to put towards studio costs and the winner also receives a solo exhibition at HIX ART.
Elizabeth Eade “I know you are but what am I” Exhibition dates: 17 January – 15 March 2020 Private View: Thursday 16 January, 6.30 – 8.30 pm HIX ART: 32 Rivington Street London I EC2A 3LX I www.hixart.co.uk