Jennifer Colten
AB.5210, 2018

Archival pigment print, 13.5 x 17 inches
AP, signed, verso
Unframed
Courtesy of the artist
Estimated value: $800

This work is part of my ongoing exploration of the American Bottom—a geographical region running 65 miles along the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. It's a complicated space where floodplain, wetland, industry, indigenous mounds, company towns, landfills, and farming communities reside in uneasy relationship.

This photograph from the American Bottom was made in Fairmont City, Illinois, once the site of the American Zinc smelting plant, which set up operation in 1914. Though the corporation moved its operation in 1967 to a neighboring American Bottom municipality, today Fairmont City still faces the residue and legacies of this toxic industry. Despite the sobering environmental conditions present in Fairmont City, however, there is a resilience and pride in the community. The town has the highest concentration of Latinx residents north of Mexico, many of whom are descendents of the first immigrants brought to work in the American Zinc plant.

Adding to the complex layering of this region is the fact that this land first was Native American land, once home to the Mississippian Mound Builders, who resided here from 700 to 1400 CE. This photograph was made within reach of the now-erased Powell Mound, which was completely dismantled in 1930, destroying this sacred burial site.

About the Artist:
Jennifer Colten

Jennifer Colten is a photographer whose work explores the representation of landscape, cultural geographies, and environmental implications of land use. Addressing issues of erasure and visibility is central to her practice. Collaboration is essential to Colten’s work, where an interdisciplinary approach is part of a larger process of engaging with community, local histories, and public space.

Jennifer was recently awarded a 2020 St. Louis Regional Arts Commission (RAC) Fellowship Grant. Past and ongoing projects have received support from the Mid-America Arts Alliance; a Ferguson Academic Seed Grant from Washington University, in St. Louis; two Artist Support Grants from the Regional Arts Commission in St. Louis; and Creative Activity Support Grants from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University.

In addition to private collections, Colten’s photographs have been included in a number of national and international institutions, including Denver Art Museum; Museum für Fotographie, Braunschweig, Germany; Museum Hundertwassser, Vienna, Austria; Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Columbia; and Museo de Antioquia and Bellas Artes Instituto, Medellín, Colombia.

After receiving her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Colten relocated to the Midwest and currently teaches photography at Washington University's Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

Website: jennifercolten.com
Instagram: @j_colten