Review: Arts by Offenders

by Joanne Petty

Arts By Offenders is a new exhibition being held at the Royal Festival Hall.

Its unusual twist is that prisoners have made every piece of artwork displayed. There are also offerings from immigration detainees, UK citizens being held in custody overseas, and patients from secure psychiatric hospitals.

Upon entering the exhibition you are greeted by a large painting of a man with his finger hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Painted by an inmate simply called Michael who is held at HM Prison Grendon, Bucks, it sets a peculiar air for the rest of the exhibition.

Six women inmates who were nearing the end of their sentences at HM Prison Downview, Surrey, were chosen to curate the project. Professional curators trained them as part of their resettlement back into the community, giving them useful skills for when they are released.

A wide range of artwork is featured: standard canvas paintings, doodles, statues, paper mache models, matchstick models, tapestries and collages.

Amateur

I found that some of the artwork was very amateurish, like something you would expect to see on a table waiting to be marked for a GCSE qualification. However, this is probably true, as a lot of the inmates who contributed earned A-Levels and GCSEs in art whilst in prison.

One artist who struck me was called Terrence Lambert from HM Prison Highport, Suffolk. His paintings are very expressive and, the two that are shown - Getting Rid Of The Evidence and Bloody Spectacle seem to speak about the crimes that he has seen or has committed.

They use dark colours and are very striking; Bloody Spectacle features an empty amphitheatre that is strewn with litter and memoirs, of what appears to be, the artist’s life.

Art By Offenders is the brainchild of the Koestler Trust. Arthur Koestler, who was once a political detainee, founded an annual fixture of the criminal justice system: the Koestler Awards in 1962. The awards aim to encourage prisoners to create art.

Awards

Small prizes are given to winners, and certificates and feedback from the judges are given to everyone who enters the competition.

Moving through the exhibition there is a real mixed bag of artwork, and I think that the curators must have had a difficult job choosing the 140 exhibits from the 6,000 that entered the competition.

However, I can’t help but wonder whether this selection was really the best that they had. For instance Harmony by Aaron Wood features large, clumsy, multi-coloured circles on a canvas, which apparenProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 y represent how he sees musical notes: through colour.

Whilst the concept is amazing, the medium is not, and the awkward thickness of the paint on the canvas makes the piece look like something the artist has spent 20 minutes making, without much thought behind it.

A lot of the paintings have this flaw, and in a way seeing the crusty paint actually reveals the imperfections of the artists and makes them seem even more vulnerable.

A lot of the artwork seems to use very basic materials: a symbol of the fact that all the artists live basic lives, with some using scraps of paper and biros to create their work. One display is scrawled on a very institutionalised pillow in a pen that looks like it is running out.

Prison life

Some of the artwork gives an interesting display into prison life. One pastel drawing called Loose Screw by Dean Potts depicts the chest of a policewoman with the buttons of her shirt popped open to reveal a pink bra underneath, displaying some kind of perverted desire.

Another painting called After A Visit by Michael T Clulow shows a man sitting in an exasperated pose, cigarette in hand, pulling off a convincing mask. The artist in his own saddening words describes the façade of having to pretend to his family that he is ok, when really “if they knew how horrible it is, it would hurt them.”

The piece I found most amusing is by Patrick John Craggs of HM Prison Ashwell, Leicestershire, and called Bug Life. It shows several flies and moths glued to a canvas with their ‘names’ and descriptions of their lives written in pen around them.

Some say amusing anecdotes such as “enjoyed watching Eastenders.” “Think he made a hole in my sock.” “Followed me around for a week.”

Without knowing what the artist is in prison for, it’s a bit awkward to laugh at the jokes in the painting; I wasn’t sure whether I was laughing with a petty thief or a mass murderer, which adds to the strangeness of Art By Offenders.

Other pieces – such as a miniature model house made out of matchsticks, complete with functioning matchstick wardrobes – really show the boredom and repetitiveness of prison life. One artist even goes so far as to display a pie chart of how he spends his time in prison; the majority of the pie takes up spending time in his cell.

Public interaction

Upon leaving the exhibition, visitors can vote for their favourite artwork, and a Wates Visitor Award will be given to the artists who receive the most votes.

I decided to vote for a painstakingly detailed drawing, in ink, of a swooshing pattern – much like the close up of hair - in a striking magenta and blue. It was drawn by an anonymous artist from HM Prison Nottingham, and I liked that there was no name attached to it – much like the hundreds of nameless prisoners in the system right now.

In places Arts By Offenders is humorous, whereas some areas are tinged with sadness. The thing that holds this exhibition together is the rawness of the artists’ emotions, which captures a real moment of their lives.

Though the work may not be of the highest standards, their emotions are bared for all to see to provide an interesting insight into what being in prison must be like.

Arts by Offenders
Royal Festival Hall
Until December 6 2009

koestlertrust.org.uk