Prison Arts & Crafts
by admin on 24/09/08 at 10:10 pm
I have been thinking of contacting some local prisons and seeing if I can set up an art gallery here for non-violent offenders. Prison art comes in many different forms. In prisons without arts and crafts buildings (where paint, model cars, and even wood products are available for purchase through commissary) the inmates are forced to work with what materials they have; this leads to some unusual forms of expression. Regardless of what they have “chosen” to work with, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the collection I’ve amassed below.
The sources of these examples of prison art are from mostly inactive galleries from around the web. Most of the sites simply offer print versions or t-shirts with the art but not the artwork itself. Please click any of the images that interest you and check out the contributing artists and some of their info. Be sure to keep your eye out for updates here as I’ll be adding many more artists to the blog. I plan on auctioning them and returning the money to the inmates. Many of the artists are indigent and incarcerated for simple drug offenses and deserve some extra kickbacks for their talents.
These examples can be seen in person at the Prison Art Gallery (ran by PrisonFoundation.org), which is located in Washington, DC at 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501.
Crying Wind by Brian Driggers (done with instant coffee)
Ray Charles Up Close by Jordanny Vega
Incredible Minds by Reginald Harris
Rescued By Love by M. Willy
Ionia Mask by Ritchie Weatherspoon
(artist unknown)
Self Portrait by Tony Papa
Memories of 9/11 by Richard Hasselburg
by Cannon Hubbard
by Larry Walker
by Ritchie Weatherspoon
(artist unknown)
by Ras Mosi
by Tenola Gamble
Appeal Denied by B.K. Nash
A Letter from Lisa by Ras Mosi
We Too Sing America by Ritchie Weatherspoon
Jewel the Beautiful by Iqbal Karimi
African Queen by Raymond Gray
Willie Nelson (artist unknown)
12 Comments
Phil E. Drifter
Sep 25th, 2008
Hey, i know you! I stumbled here. got some nice images, a little to small to desktop-ize though.
Michael Wales
Sep 26th, 2008
My favorite would have to be Crying Wind - not to mention the fact it was done with Instant Coffee - just a great piece of artwork.
My father works at a prison - there is some amazing untapped talent in the prison system that I think could really give these people a productive outlet if someone could step in and make use of it.
Yup
Sep 26th, 2008
Yeah they are real nice. They are tiny though. Great details and moods.
http://www.madsthehated.com
Imagist
Sep 26th, 2008
Do you have any information on how I can buy prints of these, specifically the first one, “Crying Wind”? I agree with Michael that it’s an excellent piece of artwork.
admin
Sep 26th, 2008
Imagist,
If you follow the link in the post description, it will take you to a website where you can purchase most of the art featured here.
-Nick
Louie
Sep 26th, 2008
Good job Nick. I was wasting company time surfing Digg.com when I stumbled across your blog. congratulations. glad to see you’re still blogging. keep em coming. where’d all the color go on your site?
Arte creado en las cárceles
Sep 26th, 2008
[...] Arte creado en las cárceles www.feloniousramblings.com/2008/09/prison-arts-crafts.html por mezvan hace pocos segundos [...]
web design
Sep 26th, 2008
Some of these are pretty good
Prison Art - BlueCirclet
Sep 27th, 2008
[...] feloniousramblings.com [...]
starcasm
Sep 27th, 2008
Crying wind is pretty cool. So is Willie.
sohbet
Sep 27th, 2008
Crying wind is pretty cool. So is Willie.
Prison art | .:Ozon FM Radio : 91,9 FM : Sremska Mitrovica: Vesti na jednom mestu:.
Mar 7th, 2009
[...] Prison art “Gde je čovek, tu je i umetnost”, verovatno je neko, negde, jednom izjavio. Ako nije - trebalo je, pošto stvaralaštvo danas ne poznaje granice. U Americi, zemlji “don’t be surprised by anything”, postoji udruženje ljudi koji se bave skupljanjem, kritikom i prezentacijom zatvorske umetnosti. Zovu se Prison Fundation i možete saznati više o njima na sajtu http://www.prisonsfoundation.org. Kažu da je zatvorska umetnost vrlo specifična, te njima interesantna, zbog svojih jedinstvenih karakteristika. Stvaraoci su suočeni sa neprirodnim osećajem ograničenja, korišćeni materijali su uglavnom kombinacije svega i svačega, a inspiracija, kažu, dolazi iz neuobičajenih stanja svesti. Nije da se ne slažem, ali pitanje mi se samo nameće… A, kad je to pa inspiracija dolazila iz uobičajenih stanja svesti? Ipak, prison art nije samo novi američki (bulls)hit, a za to je prevashodno zaslužan socijalni element cele ove priče. Naime, nenasilni zatvorenici (neophodan kriterijum za uključivanje u program) kroz bavljenje umetnošću oslobađaju se stresa, obnavljaju osećaj pripadnosti društvu, uključuju se u kulturne tokove i, jednostavnije rečeno, ponovo postaju socijalno prihvatljivi zajednici o koju su se ogrešili. Jedna zanimljivost kaže da je najveći broj aktivista “pao” zbog posedovanja ilegalnih supstanci, količina dovoljnih za ličnu upotrebu. Meni je posebno bio zanimljiv momenat “iskrenosti”, vrlo izražajan, koji se provlači kroz svaki print. Kako se vama čini, možete proveriti na ovom blogu: http://www.feloniousramblings.com/2008/09/prison-arts-crafts.html [...]
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