prison art
{{Short description|Art created by imprisoned people}}
Prison art is art that is created by persons who are imprisoned.{{Cite news |last=Steinhauer |first=Jillian |date=2019-12-12 |title=Prison Art, a Dark Place Where the Muse Never Leaves |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/arts/design/the-pencil-is-a-key-review-drawing-center.html |access-date=2023-02-09 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2023-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208221642/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/arts/design/the-pencil-is-a-key-review-drawing-center.html |url-status=live }}
Prison art is unique in several ways. Due to the low social status of prisoners, art made by prisoners has not historically been well-respected.{{Cite web |last=Greenberger |first=Alex |date=2020-07-08 |title=Incarcerated Artists Are Making Some of Today's Most Important Art. A Powerful New Book Explains Why. |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/prison-art-nicole-fleetwood-jesse-krimes-russell-craig-tameca-cole-1202693793/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111231129/https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/prison-art-nicole-fleetwood-jesse-krimes-russell-craig-tameca-cole-1202693793/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Sheets |first=Hilarie M. |date=2022-09-22 |title=From Prison to the Art Gallery |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/arts/design/prison-art-gallery-museum.html |access-date=2023-02-08 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2023-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109122013/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/arts/design/prison-art-gallery-museum.html |url-status=live }} The art, much like the prisoners themselves, is often subject to controls.{{Cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Carol |date=2023-02-07 |title=Pentagon Lifts Trump-Era Ban on Release of Guantánamo Prisoners' Art |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/us/politics/guantanamo-art.html |access-date=2023-02-08 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2023-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207231303/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/us/politics/guantanamo-art.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Boyette |first=Chris |date=2015-01-23 |title=Auschwitz's forbidden art |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/23/world/art-auschwitz/index.html |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=2023-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208223423/https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/23/world/art-auschwitz/index.html |url-status=live }} Art made by prisoners is sometimes valued,{{Cite web |last=Aitken |first=Peter |date=2022-11-03 |title=Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy's clown painting sells for $10k at spooky auction |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/serial-killer-john-wayne-gacys-clown-painting-sells-10k-spooky-auction |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=FOXBusiness |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111192304/https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/serial-killer-john-wayne-gacys-clown-painting-sells-10k-spooky-auction |url-status=live }} or conversely sometimes sought to be actively destroyed.{{Cite web |title=SERIAL KILLER'S PAINTINGS TO BE BURNED IN BONFIRE |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1994-06-17-9406170529-story.html |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=Orlando Sentinel |date=17 June 1994 |archive-date=2023-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209224214/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1994-06-17-9406170529-story.html |url-status=live }} Prisoners often lack common art supplies, and have been known to fashion supplies from materials at hand such as candy or instant coffee.{{Cite web |last=Cremin |first=Geraldine |title=The death row inmates who make art |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20170126-the-death-row-inmates-who-make-art |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=www.bbc.com |date=26 January 2017 |language=en |archive-date=2022-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205174640/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20170126-the-death-row-inmates-who-make-art |url-status=live }}
Examples of prison art
File:Deformity-Bassel-6-17-15.jpg|Painting by Bassel Khartabil June 17, 2015, Damascus Central Jail "An attempt to draw a stereotype. This is the stereotype I have in mind for the deformed souls, I have to deal with every day at jail. There are a lot of them."
File:Incarceration Nation.jpg|Incarceration Nation, 2017, by Donald "C-Note" Hooker
File:POW wall art 2 (27206746770).jpg|Pencil drawing from a German Prisoner of war on a wall in Camp Beale, California.
File:Ferris Wheel, toothpick art made by a San Quentin prison inmate - Musée Mécanique - San Francisco, CA - DSC02937.JPG|Ferris Wheel, toothpick art made by a San Quentin prison inmate, Musée Mécanique, San Francisco California
File:BirkenauPaintings2.jpg|Paintings created by child prisoners on the wall of the prison building in Auschwitz II Birkenau. Image depicts a school.
File:A Pomeranian Prison Camp, 1941 Art.IWMARTLD1935.jpg|A Pomeranian Prison Camp, 1941 Louis Mitelle. A view down a gangway in a hut in a POW camp. Dejected prisoners in military uniform sit on the bunks which are three levels high and laundry hangs from the beams above. On the floor a group of prisoners sit huddled together in a group.
See also
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References
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