PRESS RELEASE

Primary is proud to present Mop & Scaffold, Eva Robarts' first solo exhibition in Miami, consisting of two distinct yet related bodies of work that find themselves steeped in the conventional material. This collection of eleven paintings and two sculptures is a response to Robarts' city of birth and a reply to the architecture of Primary (Home). 

There is a story recorded in the skin of your palms, a choreography of sorts. Within lies familiarity to a tool, rhythm, a movement that is responsible for a scar, a chore that became a meditation. If there is no separating ourselves from our actions or the actions that surround us, then there must be a narrative that we carry in the husk of our hands, informing a person's unique individual motion. Cleanliness is next to godliness?! Traces of our collective fingerprint wiped away, removal by mop. 

Many of us participate in the dance of decontamination regularly, so much though that it has become a custom, with defining cultural moments like Gene Kelly's performance of Let Me Call You Sweetheart in the 1943 film Thousand Cheer.

In opposition, Robarts' appropriates the mop, capturing his poetic gesture in plaster, directly onto brightly colored linoleum tile. Robarts lends his humanity to the painting, arresting a motion of labor that spans generations, across social class, revealing the beauty in a mark easily ignored or meant to be forgotten.

To reveal the structure, you must pull back the skin. "Chrysalis," a tip of the hat to Sol Lewitt, is a 15' x 7' x 5' vertical monument that draws your eye up and into the brightly colored painting on the surface of the building. This staging system of modern metal tubing, crossbars, and locking mechanisms exists in contrast to an ephemeral composition. These whimsical fields of color converse with steady steel building blocks, reminding Robarts that change comes in all its glory with each moment passing the time.

Imagine Robarts, captured cinematically, cycling around Miami to a soundtrack. Picture the scene opening with Them / Van Morrison, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." The combination bass guitar & heavy filter acoustic piano presents you with a nostalgic vibe, almost dreamlike. Haven taken up residence in New York City for the more significant part of a decade, the metamorphosis of the Miami landscape encapsulates and informs the immediate senses of our cyclist. With nostalgia tugging at his heartstrings, Robarts describes these works to be his most romantic to date. Developed entirely in his hometown, they are an effort to shine a light on his past, contribute to the present, and function as an exercise in letting go.

Opens January 31, 2020 at 6 PM


Checklist Press Release

Eva Robarts (b. 1982, Miami Beach, Florida) lives and works in New York City and Miami. She received a BFA in sculpture from Pratt Institute in 2008. Robarts’ process begins outside of the studio, with observing, collecting, sketching and recording. Her multimedia practice blends found object sculpture, drawing, painting and installation, often manifesting as layered motifs and geometric forms. Through this interplay of diverse mediums, she reimagines everyday materials to reflect on identity, humanity, and her immediate environment. Solo exhibitions include What’s Going On Here?, Art Lot, New York (2023); Dancers, Ron Providence, Southport (2022); Time Out, Berthold Pott, Cologne (2022); Eva Robarts: Mop & Scaffold, PRIMARY, Miami (2020); Within Cells Interlinked, Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York (2019); A bright cold day in April, Berthold Pott, Cologne (2017); Rebound, Elliott Levenglick Gallery, New York (2016) and Run of The Mill, The Hole, New York (2015). Group exhibitions include Florida Room IV, KDR, Miami (2025); Tumbled Rhyme, LVL3, Chicago (2025); A Sudden Sense of Liberty, Berthold Pott, Cologne (2025); Channels, Below Grand, New York (2024); Garage Show, Driveway, Rockaway Beach (2024); Women are Abstract, The Fireplace Project, East Hampton (2024); Paperwork, Cabanon, Paris (2023); Neighbours, Rubenskasteel, Zemst (2023); September, Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (2023); 10/10, Keteleer Gallery, Antwerp (2023); Marks of Absence, Institut Francais, Munich (2022); My Generation, Massif Cental, Brussels (2022); Ehrenfeld, Berthold Pott, Cologne (2021); Homeland 3, Berthold Pott, Cologne; Highlight: Gramercy The National Arts Club, New York (2019); Abstraction & Architecture, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg (2018); Homeland 2, Berthold Pott, Cologne (2018); Superposition, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2018); Aura and Authority, Barbara Feinman, Miami (2017); See the Moon?, Pratt Institute, Brookyln (2017); Etemananki Sunset View, Edouard Nardon, New York (2017); Irredemiable Cotidiano, Diablo Rosso, Panama City (2017); Triplication, Exo Exo, Brookyln (2017); Hello!, Berthold Pott, Cologne (2016); Not Really Really, Brussels (2016) and Daily Formalism, MAB Society, Beijing (2016)

Primary (Est. 2007) is a context and research-driven curatorial collective with an emphasis on public art. We thrive amongst the self-taught, working-class misfits, who explore the margins of a new Americana through pungent, human-focused narratives. Our program engages with the raw and uncanny, celebrating border voices, bootleg culture, and intergenerational commentary, connecting the new and unseen with broader audiences and evolving collections.

For further information, please contact info@thisisprimary.com