ART FROM THE GULAGS
The fifth exhibition of "Inside Art," originating from NCX's "News from the Gulags," takes place from October 21 to December 31 at Puffin, 435 Broome St., NYC. The prisoners' art is shared with photos from death row in Texas, anti-torture collages by Carol Jacobsen, and an installation from the Sing Sing death house, 1891-1963.
The prisoners' art abounds with excitement. Creativity, depth, and originality portray jazzmen, inside life, nature, etc. The purpose of the exhibition is to change the public's misconception of prisoners and to dispel the media myths that these are "dangerous" people. The talent and sincerity of the artists are apparent in their work and statements.
Artists have traditionally drawn their surroundings. These artists are no exception. Much of the work abounds with symbols. The dragon is the prison system. Prisoners are "watched" from the tower. They are kept inside by locks, barbed wire, weapons, handcuffs, mace, hoses, and clubs. Clocks and calendars remind us of the slowly passing time. Prisoners are trapped in a web. They are lonely without their families and friends.
In 1250, Dante described this environment as a purgatory. It still exists. Emma Goldman, Victor Hugo, George Jackson, and many others have written extensively on the punishment that results from child abuse, racism, and the unequal distribution of wealth.
In the 1860s, Gustave Courbet, the French artist, joined an ongoing debate about art. Courbet was concerned with attempts by artists to "achieve artistic freedom in an oppressive social order." The expression to which Courbet referred was the ordinary government intervention to control an unjust social and economic order. We can only imagine his horror at artists working in the hostile, brutal, and sadistic setting of a prison.
"How is it possible to make something beautiful in an ugly, repressive environment?" asks Nancy, a female prisoner. "Art and creating are very important. There is so little that we are able to control. Our time is not our own and there are so many interfering demands. But art is the escape. I can work through problems and end up with something I am responsible for. And while supplies can be taken away, the creative force cannot."
Tommy, the in-house artist for NCX, has an excellent painting of hands on the bars, which is the cover of the announcement for the exhibition. When asked to comment about himself as an artist, he regretted "finding" himself too late. Why wasn't he introduced to a productive life before he went to prison?
Frank is from a family of artists. His two older brothers, who were extremely gifted artists, were both killed in gang fights. Frank is the remaining artist of the family. His portrayals of the ancient Maya are first-rate. A professor at a university in Florida asked him for five illustrations for a book he was writing on the Maya. The illustrations were excellent. However, the professor had no intention of keeping his part of the agreement to pay Frank for his work.
Roderick has been drawing since age 5. His first-grade teacher sent for his mother, not believing that Roderick had made the portrait of MLK, Jr. Roderick says that he purposely made the picture oversized so that there would be no doubt that it was original. "Drawing expresses da inner self," he says. "Drawing for me shows dat inner self." It is enlightening to others.
Clifford Boggess, an artist who was executed in 1998 in Texas, made a profound impression on some of the artists. George wrote to say, "Through the slimy power-struck machinations of Geo. Bush, Jr. and his crew, the energy and dignity that Clifford lived and died with are going to go on. His work and his words and his life are not fuel for the engines of war that are throbbing and humming with life, even as we speak. That's what they don't understand about people like us and will never understand. They cannot fathom how we can create paintings and music and dance and poetry. Even those who call themselves 'reformers' can only barely comprehend that kind of fortitude and resilience and persistence for decades and not be crushed.
"It is not so much our flesh and blood and meager properties that they desire. Oh no! It is our spirit and our vision and our insight that they need to see crushed and pulverized by the weight and pain of their actions against us.
"More than any other creatures within the human spectrum, artists understand this. That's why all of the most repressive and brutal of governments throughout history have worked so diligently and mercilessly to control the arts. The arts are mankind's connection to the highest self . . . to the self that is inaccessible to cars and jewelry and drugs and sex as sport. The arts let us see ourselves and each other through eyes touched with a grandeur and a majesty and a courage that is terrifying to those who would place themselves as controllers."
Thanks to Carl Rosensteil of Puffin for a chance to display the art, and kudos to the artists for their talent and perseverance. To Frank, Robert, Tommy, Dyanne, Braulio, Sergio, Nancy, Eddie, Greg, Bill, LaSalle, Audrey, Richie, Javier, Ramon, Roderick, James, David, Charles, Mario, Willie, George, and many others: a superlative job. I thank you with my whole heart.
Love, Carol