(Dis)Placed
(Dis)Placed
Mary Crenshaw • Emma Roper-Evans • Carme Aléman
Exhibition runs from 9 May–27 May
Open every day 9am–9pm
Opening night 9 May, 5pm–8pm
In 2019, Carmen Aleman, Mary Crenshaw, and Emma Roper-Evans, aka edre, were resident artists at PasseggiAtina, organized by Chris Simpson and Jude Cowan Montegue, in the town of Atina, Frosinone, Italy. While Mary focused on studio painting, Carmen and Emma conducted fieldwork, engaging with refugees at the now-defunct housing-complex for migrants in Atina, Casa Tom. Emma chronicled her interactions with poems and videos, while Carmen captured photographic portraits and put together an artist’s book and sculpture.
Over time, edre and Mary collaborated on projects, some of which are showcased in this exhibition. Carmen’s photographic documentation of her time with migrant families living at Casa Tom not only resulted in images but also in a 3d piece constructed from found materials available during the residency. Together, they present work that pays tribute to the courageous individuals they encountered during and after their time in Atina.
Mary Crenshaw
USA-born Mary Crenshaw lives and works in Milan, Italy. It was Crenshaw’s first-hand experience of obtaining Italian citizenship and coming into contact with asylum-seekers that inspired her to address expatriation. In 2018 Mary was admitted to the degree of Professional Doctorate from the University of East London in recognition of a program of work entitled Dislocation and Materiality.
Her most recent solo exhibitions are Etched in Light at PigPrints in Milan and Shipwreck at Prince Street Gallery in New York, with an upcoming exhibition in October at The Painting Center, also in New York. She has been a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center, Centre d’Art Marnay Art Center (CAMAC), The League at Vyt in Sparkill, New York, and PasseggiAtina in Atina, Italy.
marycrenshaw.com | The Painting Center | Instagram
Carmen Alemán
Carmen Alemán is a London-based artist and senior lecturer in photography at the University of East London. Her practice spans photography, film, installation and performance, working on community projects, residencies and curatorial collaborations and exhibiting in the U.K. and abroad.
Carmen’s work focuses on women’s rights socially and politically. She explores themes of gender, power, violence, inequality, entrapment, repetition, and transformation.
Emma Roper-Evans
London-based word artist. Won a Glimmer Train Open Fiction Award and a Füst Milán Prize for literary translation from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
In Summer 2017/18/19 took part in the Atina Art Residency in Lazio, Italy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTW_PaJZ1nw&feature=youtu.be
Worked with daughter, the photographer India Roper-Evans, on ‘Locus Criminis’ involving a photo of a set-up crime scene, accompanied by a story paragraph about the murder/suicide/death etc. This was shown in: The Fall of Rebel Angels, Castello 1610/A, Venice (56th Venice Biennale) 2015 POP up FUCK off, Broadway Studios, London, UK, 2015 Chinese Open – Year of the Sheep, Q Park, London, UK, 2015 Took part in #51% RememberHer show organised by Rebecca Feiner, London March 2017. In January 2018 two Atina works appeared in Eratio: http://eratiopostmodernpoetry.com/issue25_Roper-Evans.html
In 2019 laid Burning Bridges across the Millennial Bride, London with fellow artist Chris Simpson mourning Brexit absurdities. In 2020 was due to show Scorched Earth a sculptural poem at Shoreham Sculpture Trail but COVID hit. In May 2020, her 2019 work in Atina, ‘Scorched Lands’, was part of the OMSS [Oxford Migration Study Series] conference in the storytelling section and appeared in the magazine ROUTED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaImVXRx73g&t=131s
During Lockdown Made COVIDEO with fellow artists. https://vimeo.com/457310691?share=copy
In October 2022 did a performance of ‘Buoys’ at Gate 44 Milan Print, Italy, using work with child migrants in the UK to highlight the dangers and terrible journeys children had undergone to get to relative safety. In June 2023 part of ‘Shipwreck’ a show at the Prince Street Gallery New York, http://princestreetgallery.com/…/MaryCrenshaw_2023_PSG…
In September 2023 was part of the Lichtenberg residency in Berlin with Butoh dancer Mai Nguyen Tri, sculptor Chris Simpson, and filmmaker Lito Apostolakou to make work about this area of old East Berlin. https://youtube.com/watch?v=FtMUqB9giJs&si=TTV3hhejckm_TpFf
Poem
Cries could be heard inside Weeping onto sheets Face down unable to look Didn’t want to breathe Like when his brother Had clamped tight…tight over His mouth under the window As bodies/bullets screeched Through casement, thudding floor How to calm, soothe, hush? What magic words whispered Through the keening door May charge his heart with Energy enough to raise His head, face the World anew? Cheeks reddened, crushed Rosy scars over A yet un-stubbled face Brambled by grief Undone, we knew not Cast this way and that For verbal amulets To wrap him in but Hands not words Made him rise In the end Gentle rub of shoulders Soft circular motions On shoulder blades Swords of pain Kneading skin to rise Float over the needles Of his bones Velvety dough cloaking Gashes of anguish With patience, kindness They may knit but a Jagged scar will still Chase through a Developing mind
Terms and Conditions
I Agree