Ed Pien: Memento

Wednesday 13th January 2010 - Sunday 28th February 2010

Open Daily 12pm – 4pm (plus 6pm - 8pm on selected evenings).

Please note, as the gallery is staffed by volunteers opening times may vary. Please call 0208 369 5454 on the day of your visit to confirm opening times.

Memento is a contemplation of the human condition: how we act and react to the inescapable forces that shape us. The work has been developed out of research into the plight of illegal immigrants throughout the world who often take great risks in the hope of living a more significant and meaningful life. These communities often live ‘ghost like’, hidden from society, such as the ‘Fuajis’ from India living in the UK without identities, the Chinese cockle pickers swept away in Morecambe and the thousands of North Africans who try to cross the Straits of Gibraltar illegally, some of whom perish along the way.

Memento is a walk-through installation that consists of ropes, cut silhouettes, sound and video. The hand-tied configuration alludes to fishing nets, traps, security fences and engulfing waves. These materials create a network of patterns reminiscent of the human circulatory system, passageways and maps. The video shown within the structure depicts the artist negotiating the might of churning waves emphasising human beings’ vulnerability as well as celebrating the strength to confront and overcome difficulty.

Memento is a continuation of Pien's ongoing interest in the otherworldly, invisibility, disappearance, and journeys. It poignantly reflects on the displaced, forgotten and unseen yet remains poetically open-ended, embracing multiple interpretations.

Ed Pien was born in Taiwan and moved to Canada aged 11. He received his Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Western Ontario and Master of Fine Art from York University. Pien has exhibited internationally including the Drawing Centre, New York; La Biennale de Montreal; Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City; plAAy, Blackburn (UK) and The Goethe Institute, Berlin.

Commissioned by the Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester.

Special thanks go to The Chinese Arts Centre, the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for their support in realising this work.
Memento will be shown at 501 Contemporary Art Museum, Chongqing, China in April 2010.

Click here to see more of Ed Pien's work