Cups from stone

cups from stone Helen Eager & Brett Stone 4 - 25 November 2017

© Utopia Art Sydney

Helen Eager has been making prints since her school days and in almost every print medium, but it would be fair to say lithography has always been her passion.

Helen has just completed a catalogue raisonné of her nearly 300 editions and this is when Brett Stone first saw her prints with cups as the subject.

Brett Stone is well known for his ceramic stacks, and was already experimenting with new shapes, but upon seeing Helen’s prints he decided that cups may well be a new avenue to explore. Over the coming months a body of work began to develop and what was once considered for a small back room show had emerged as something much bigger.

The final exhibition takes works selected from Eager’s print oeuvre by Stone, and his responses to each one. This is not Stone attempting to mimic each setting, rather it is a freer association, a duet as opposed to a cover version.

Curator Christopher Hodges has aligned each grouping down the long wall of the gallery and while each pairing resonates, the wall takes on a unity as the repetition of forms and the rhythm of wall and shelf, create an engaging composition.

In addition, several new unique compositions by Brett Stone are given space to stand alone and hold their own space, while Eager bookends the room with two large works whose presence only serves to heighten the intimacy of Eager’s prints and Stone’s compositions.

Both Eager and Stone are artists clearly in command of their craft and their work, made decades apart, and in totally different mediums, sit very happily together.

Helen Eager, Performance, 1988, oil stick on paper on canvas, 167.5 x 256.5 cm

Helen Eager, Expresso, 1988, lithograph, 69 x 43 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Cupola, 2017, stoneware, 21 x 33 x 36 cm

Helen Eager, Blue Cups, 1985, lithograph, 34 x 30 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Coffe, Tea & Chai, 2017, stoneware, 9 x 23 x 23 cm

Helen Eager, Steam, 1985, lithograph, 21 x 27 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Coffee, Milk & Sugar, 2017, stoneware, 2.5 x 23 x 16 cm

Helen Eager, The Performers, 1987, lithograph, 37 x 49.5 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Coffee, Milk and Bikkies 2017, stoneware, 8 x 24 x 7 cm

Helen Eager, The Cup, 1987, lithograph on chine collĂŠ, 20 x 24 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Cup & Saucer #4, 2017, stoneware, 6 x 12 cm

Helen Eager, Sugar?, 1987, lithograph on chine collĂŠ, 14 x 20 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Cup & Saucer #1, 2017, stoneware, 11 x 11 cm

Helen Eager, New Cup, 1987, lithograph, 45 x 33 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Cup & Saucer #6, 2017, stoneware, 8 x 13 cm

Helen Eager, Moon Dance, 1987, lithograph, 33.5 x 18 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Cup & Saucer #2, 2017, stoneware, 11 x 11 cm

Helen Eager, Cup and Chair in front of Window, 1993, lithograph, 22 x 28.5 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Cup & Saucer #5, 2017, stoneware, 7 x 13 cm

Helen Eager, Screen, 1985, oil linen, on six panel folding screen, 120 x 49 cm

Helen Eager, Large Cup II, 1990, lithograph, 53.5 x 76 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Matcha Mug #3, #2, #1, 2017, porcelain, 7.5 x 11 cm; 6.5 x 12 cm; 9 x 14 cm

Brett Stone, Matcha Do, 2017, stoneware, 9.5 x 10 cm

Brett Stone, Very Matcha Do, 2017, porcelain, 10 x 24 cm

Brett Stone, Russian Cups, 2017, stoneware, 13 x 13 cm

Brett Stone, Breakfast, 2017, stoneware, 15 x 17 cm

Brett Stone, Balanced Cups, 2017, stoneware, 11 x 12 cm

Brett Stone, Chawan Au Lait, 2017, stoneware, 8.5 x 15 cm

Brett Stone, Handelabra, 2017, stoneware, 18 x 17.5 cm

Brett Stone, Two Fruit Bowls for Julia, 2017, stoneware, 10 x 24 cm

Helen Eager, The Bowl, 1987, lithograph with chine collĂŠ print, 57 x 42.5 cm (image)

Brett Stone, Bouillion bowl and cup, 2017, stoneware, 14 x 17 cm

Brett Stone, Snuggle, 2017, stoneware, 13 x 16 cm

Brett Stone, Two Fruit Bowls for Julia, 2017, stoneware, 10.5 x 25 cm

Helen Eager, A Visit (A little Tea, A little Chat), 1988, oil on paper on canvas, 122 x 92 cm

Brett Stone, Fruit Bowl for Julia, 2017, stoneware, 12 x 21 cm

Helen Eager, Site, 1988, relief woodcut, 94 x 64 cm

Brett Stone, Two Fruit Bowls for Julia, 2017, stoneware, 16 x 23 cm

Utopia Art Sydney 72 Henderson Rd Alexandria NSW 2015 Telephone: + 61 2 9699 2900 email: art@utopiaartsydney.com.au www.utopiaartsydney.com.au © Utopia Art Sydney