The Artistic Journey of Mary Evans
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Mary Evans is a contemporary artist whose practice explores the intersection of her African heritage and her European upbringing. She pursued her formal education through a foundation course at St Helens College of Art & Design, followed by a B.A. in painting at Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology. She furthered her academic training with an M.A. in Fine Art from Goldsmiths' College and a postgraduate residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.
Her work often utilizes paper as a primary medium, frequently manifesting in large-scale, site-specific installations. These works may address highly charged subjects, such as lynching in the Deep South. Evans has been recognized with a Smithsonian Artists Research Fellowship at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC, and her practice has been described as that of a storyteller or griot, reinterpreting unwritten histories and collective narratives.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Evans has exhibited her work extensively across the United Kingdom and internationally, with showcases in the United States, the Netherlands, Mexico, and China. Notable exhibitions include:
In 2020, her work was featured in the exhibition Paper Routes: Women to Watch at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Currently, she serves as the director of the Slade School of Fine Art at UCL in London.
