Romany EVELEIGH British, 1934-2020
One Liners, 2017
Oil and pastel on paper (172 Strips)
35.5 x 260 cm
14 x 102 1/4 in
14 x 102 1/4 in
Further images
Romany EVELEIGH (b. 1934, London – d. 2020, Rome) was a pioneering figure of post-war abstraction who developed a singular, sign-based vocabulary within the minimalist canon. Born in London and...
Romany EVELEIGH (b. 1934, London – d. 2020, Rome) was a pioneering figure of post-war abstraction who developed a singular, sign-based vocabulary within the minimalist canon. Born in London and raised in Shanghai and Canada, she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art before settling in Rome in 1963. Immersed in the city’s dynamic avant-garde and radical feminist movements,
Eveleigh transformed mark-making into what philosopher Giorgio Agamben termed “landscapes of cognition.” Her work drew from the graffiti-like signs of Roman newspapers and bodily gestures, blurring the boundaries between the act of writing and the act of painting.
Her practice was defined by a rigorous minimalist aesthetic and a physical relationship with her medium, often working on square supports scaled to the span of her outstretched arms. A pivotal transition in the 1980s saw her move from circular motifs toward the linear logic of the Fra Le Righe series, where she utilized newsprint to privilege manual process over static resolution. This fascination with repetitive, meditative marks earned her the advocacy of critic Barbara Rose, who aligned Eveleigh with giants of American abstraction like Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, describing her paintings as “spiritual retreats” that center the mind through the artist’s hand.
A major global reappraisal has recently solidified her place within the history of modern abstraction, punctuated by her inclusion in the 60th Venice Biennale, Foreigners Everywhere (2024). This momentum is anchored by significant institutional milestones, including acquisitions by the Tate and the Art Institute of Chicago, alongside her representation in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Roberts Institute of Art.
Eveleigh transformed mark-making into what philosopher Giorgio Agamben termed “landscapes of cognition.” Her work drew from the graffiti-like signs of Roman newspapers and bodily gestures, blurring the boundaries between the act of writing and the act of painting.
Her practice was defined by a rigorous minimalist aesthetic and a physical relationship with her medium, often working on square supports scaled to the span of her outstretched arms. A pivotal transition in the 1980s saw her move from circular motifs toward the linear logic of the Fra Le Righe series, where she utilized newsprint to privilege manual process over static resolution. This fascination with repetitive, meditative marks earned her the advocacy of critic Barbara Rose, who aligned Eveleigh with giants of American abstraction like Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, describing her paintings as “spiritual retreats” that center the mind through the artist’s hand.
A major global reappraisal has recently solidified her place within the history of modern abstraction, punctuated by her inclusion in the 60th Venice Biennale, Foreigners Everywhere (2024). This momentum is anchored by significant institutional milestones, including acquisitions by the Tate and the Art Institute of Chicago, alongside her representation in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Roberts Institute of Art.
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