Current Space is proud to present "Back East," an exhibition of works by Erin Stellmon and Rahne Alexander, two Baltimore-based artists whose origin stories begin on the West Coast of the United States: Alexander in California and Stellmon in Oregon. "Back East" emerges from a series of conversations between the artists about their independent decisions to find home in Baltimore, breaking ties with myths deeply held by both family and nation about the promises of westward expansion.
Please join us for the Opening Reception on Friday, October 3rd from 7-10pm.
Exhibit Runs: September 26 - November 2, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, October 3rd from 7-10pm
Closing Reception & Artist Talk: Sunday, November 2nd
Gallery Hours: Saturdays 1-5pm, by appointment, & anytime Current Space is open for an event
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Rahne Alexander is an intermedia artist and writer from Baltimore, Maryland. She’s also a trans dame. Despite being born in Utah and raised in the Golden State of California, Rahne Alexander never bought the pioneer mythology of her Mormon upbringing. Her childish misgivings about the gave way to larger critique of everything from the Gold Rush to the Golden Plates. As she began to see the All-American mechanisms of patriarchy, colonialism and white supremacy failing her even as they promised the world (and beyond); and as she watched the promises of the American West fading, she felt the pull to go back east, and these works examine that “reverse commute” in hindsight.
Erin Stellmon is an artist and educator in Baltimore, MD by way of Las Vegas, NV; NY, NY and Portland, OR. The descendent of Oregon Trail pioneers who claimed land from the Kalapuya tribe in the Willamette Valley in 1845, she was raised to revere her trailblazing ancestors. When looking to leave for college in NYC, her grandma asked “Why would you go back east when we fought so hard to get here?” Stellmon’s defiance led to a lifelong investigation of what it means to forge her own path; to reckon with history and privilege in migration and colonization; and to pivot to a future “back east” in Baltimore.
She has exhibited at museums and cultural institutions nationally and internationally. Her mixed media collages, installations and paintings explore contemporary landscape through barriers, walls and temporary fences intended to question traditional notions of safety and home.
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Current Space is an artist-run gallery, studio, outdoor performance space, and garden bar; nourishing an ongoing dialogue between artists, activists, performers, designers, curators, and thinkers. Operating since November 2004, we are committed to showcasing, developing, and broadening the reach of artists locally and internationally.
Thank you!
Programs at Current Space are made possible in part by supporting members like you, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, and William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artist Portfolios at BakerArtist.org.
