November 7, 2003 - February 6, 2004

Made In Prison:
Contemporary Art by Incarcerated Men and Women
Curated by Julia Dzwonkoski and Kye Potter

According to Justice Department statistics, the US prison population has nearly doubled in the last ten years. In the last five years, Ohio has opened eight new prisons including a $65 million supermax facility. Interaction between incarcerated individuals and the rest of society is limited not only by current legislation, but by fear and misunderstanding fueled by sensational media representations of prisons, police and criminals. These and other factors have lead to an increasingly marginalized culture behind bars.

Jesus Rios, Slippers, 2001, milk carton sculpture

In an attempt to close the widening gap between communities inside and outside of prison, Antioch College’s Herndon Gallery presents Made in Prison an exhibition of contemporary art by incarcerated men and women. Featuring the work of over 50 inmate artists from across the United States, the show focuses attention upon the voices of the growing prison population and invites audiences to consider how prisons and the criminal justice system impact and reflect upon our society as a whole.

Co-curated by Julia Dzwonkoski and Kye Potter, Made in Prison is the result of a year spent visiting prisons and corresponding with inmates, researching the history of the visual arts in prison, and working with prison arts and advocacy groups to identify artists and locate work. The show is significant both in providing access to work that rarely circulates in traditional exhibition channels and as a survey of artworks that are compelling both inside and outside of the prison context in which they were produced.

Daniel Watson, Thinking of History, 1989, mixed media on paper
Courtesy of Phyllis Kind Gallery

Made in Prison surveys a range of artistic practices – realist depictions of daily life; labor intensive studies that mark the passage of time; inventive uses of available materials; appropriations of pop culture, works that reflect idiosyncratic or visionary perspectives, works that meet erotic and self-therapeutic needs, as well as art commissioned by guards and fellow inmates.

The artists in this exhibition come from communities that are politically and culturally underrepresented. Their backgrounds, training, access to materials and reasons for making art vary considerably. To provide a context for this work, artists’ statements and curatorial notes accompany each piece in the show. An exhibition catalog featuring an essay by cultural studies scholar Jean Gregorek is available. The exhibition is part of Antioch College’s 150-year anniversary celebration and reflects the College’s commitment to understanding and promoting diverse forms of cultural expression.

Schedule of Events

Friday, November 7th, 6 - 9 pm
Opening Reception

Thursday, November 13, 7 - 9 pm
Phillis Kornfeld, educator, curator and author of Cellblock Visions (Princeton, 1997), will discuss her 20 years’ experience teaching art classes in prisons throughout the country. She will present slides and discuss the work of individual artists, their processes and the contexts in which they are working. She will also share strategies she has developed as an educator and advocate. Students of criminal justice, sociology, popular culture, law, education, art and social work are encouraged to attend.

Thursday, November 20, 7 - 9 pm
The Books 4 Prisoners Crew is an Ohio-based all volunteer group dedicated to providing prisoners in Ohio, Indiana and Texas with the education, empowerment, entertainment and escape that come from free reading materials. The Crew is made up of prison abolitionists, former prisoners, friends and family of the incarcerated, and social justice activists. Members of the Crew will discuss and screen a video about their work.

In conjunction with this presentation, the Herndon Gallery is organizing a book drive. Please help by donating your new or gently used paper back books. More information/list of accepted and non-accepted books.

Thursday, January 15, 7 - 9 pm
Chris Hill, Associate Professor of Film and Video at Antioch College and co-organizer of the 2001 Documentary Institute Inside and Out: Witnessing Prison in America, will discuss media representations of crime, prisons and police. She will screen excerpts from award-winning documentaries and activist media projects that explore a range of prison and criminal justice issues, including the death penalty, racial profiling and inmate access to education and health care.

Funding for this exhibition has been provided by
the Ohio Arts Council, The Antioch Company and Dick Blick Art Materials