I attended the on-campus cultural event “Art for Justice,” on display in the BSC. The exhibit is a collection of artwork done by inmates at prisons in America and is intended to show the conditions of prison life as well as give inmates a creative outlet for their ideas.
The stated goal of the project is to “support and exhibit prisoner art to stimulate public dialogue on ways to prevent crime, reduce levels of incarceration and find effective, humane ways to improve the criminal justice system.” When attending the exhibit, I examined several pieces of artwork, and analyzed a few themes that were common among the artists.
In “Where’s Daddy” (Daniel Gwynne, 2008), the painting shows a young boy standing on one side of a fence, looking in at a prison. An inmate, who we believe is his father, is being led by guards inside the facility. The child, who is no older than six of seven, is holding onto a toy phone that says “Daddy Hot-Line” on it. The father is small and is only seen at a distance; but the guards appear to be leading him away from the prison implying that he might be released today. Gwynne is making the point here that prisoners are more than simply convicts in orange jumpsuits, and that they often have families outside of prison that they must leave.
Another of Gwynne’s paintings, “Broken Links, Broken Lives” (2008) shows a pair of handcuffs against a wall; in one cuff, we see an image of a prisoner in anguish, and in the other, there is a wife and child crying. Like his other painting, Gwynne is showing how the family of the man who committed the crime will be punished, not just the criminal himself. Prison destroys the bond between them, as evidenced by the use of the word links in the title.
Another theme that comes up is repression. In “The Pill Line” (Luis David Gonzalez, 2004), we see a line of inmates being given pills at a prison clinic, while the guard watches from afar. The prisoners all seem to have some sort of mental problem, and one appears to be quite paranoid as he eyes the other inmates suspiciously. All of them seem to be quite unhappy to be taking the medication, but it is implied that they are forced to do so to keep them under control. The inmates aren’t actually better from the pills; they only appear tamed and subdued by them. This repression of personality is highlighted by the blurred faces of several of the inmates, perhaps signifying that they no longer have personalities.
“Life in Suspension” (Charles Lawson, 2011), shows us an inmate being led to a solitary cell with his head bowed. On his head is a taqiyah (an Islamic religious cap), indicating that he is a devout Muslim. Perhaps the statement being made is that prison makes no exceptions based on faith: He is being treated no differently than an ordinary prisoner, yet he appears to be remorseful about his crime. The title could also refer to a “suspension of faith,” in that prison defeats any sense of religious belief in true justice. The man appears defeated and angry as he is being led away.
A final theme that I identified was religious forgiveness. In “Injustice Denied” (Daniel Gwynne, 2014), an inmate is walking towards a light at the top of the staircase, and as he does so, rays of heavenly light break away his handcuffs and tear his orange jumpsuit from him to reveal white robes underneath. The religious symbolism is great here, as he is ascending (probably to heaven and forgiveness), while a dove flies out of the light in the right hand corner. The robes he wears remind us of Jesus, and he appears to be saved.
In a rather straightforward painting, “Forgiveness” (George Lopez, 2004) shows a dying man being held by Jesus, who still has his wounds on his hands and feet. Christ is holding and caring for this man, even though the prisoner still holds a mallet. It is implied that even though this person is responsible for Christ’s death, he is still forgiven by him due to God’s infinite mercy.
The exhibit displayed excellent pieces of art all done by prisoners while incarcerated, and show how many have identified problems within the system as well as a means of forgiving oneself and moving on with their lives.
