Displacement

The notion of displacement figures prominently in Edison Peñafiel’s physically engulfing installations. Multiple projections and barbed wire surround the space. A visitor can consider their physical relationship to the masked figures, emoting an element of macabre, that move through the space. The subjects march, they process, but not for ceremonial purposes. Their migration is forced, and their actions evoke broad notions of displacement but also, most specifically, exile, exploitation, and prejudice. Born in Ecuador the artist has witnessed economic and political instability in South America. The artist recognizes the correlation between instability and migration and creates works that resonate with universal meanings as millions of people across the globe experience displacement.

Peñafiel’s Land Escape was recently produced at 100 W. Corsicana in Corsicana, Texas. Kyle Hobratschk, founder of the artist residency in Corsicana, writes “Land Escape pushed 100 West Corsicana’s third floor studio in directions no other artist in this program has considered so deeply, stringing connections back to the nineteenth century theatrical origins of this residency building as an independent Order of the Odd Fellows Lodge, and doubling the utility of this space for both production and uncompromised exhibition platform. The window-blackened room evaporates the dimension of our 3rd floor studio into timeless and timely content we are now pleased to see travel across state lines.” As Hobratschk infers, Land Escape makes its Miami debut in this exhibition.

Excerpt of writing by Amy Galpin, PhD.
2019 South Florida Cultural Consortium

Land Escape was included as part of the South Florida Cultural Consortium 2019 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL. In 2021, Land Escape was presented as part of BIENALSUR 2021: Punto de Fuga exhibition hosted by Centro de Arte - Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina.