MARKING TIME
Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration
One of the most significant art events of the year has been the revolutionary exhibition Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration at MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York. The show opened on September 12, 2020, with the reopening of the museum. It features works by more than 35 artists in American prisons. It also includes works by formerly incarcerated artists or those impacted by the system.
Since its opening, the exhibition has been praised and considered one of the best of 2020. The topics of mass incarceration, criminal justice reform, police brutality, and the death penalty were widely discussed, elevated by the Black Lives Matter protests, and increased awareness of the system’s inequities. Documentaries such as Ava Duvernay’s 13th or her mini-series When They See Us shed light on the realities that countless innocent people face within the US prison system, especially people of color (the US has the largest prison population in the world, over 2.4 million.) Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration allows these artists to illustrate the horrors of imprisonment and regain their individuality, which was stripped away. The exhibition is now updated and includes art that reflects the effects of COVID-19.
Making art in prison is especially difficult, as one does not have the time and materials typically available to non-incarcerated artists. Hence, the show features many different mediums, including painting, collage, sculpture, and photography. Many works are also mixed-media, such as Tameca Cole’s Locked in a Dark Calm. Artists featured in the show include Tameca Cole, Mark Loughney, Jesse Krimes, Carole Alden, American Artist, Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter aka Isis tha Saviour, Conor Broderick, Keith Calhoun, and Chandra McCormick, Larry Cook, Russell Craig, Halim Flowers, Nereida García-Ferraz, Dean Gillispie, GisMo (Jessica Gispert and Crystal Pearl Molinary), Gary Harrell, Brian Hindson, James “Yaya” Hough, William B. Livingston III, Cedar Mortenson, George Anthony Morton, Jesse Osmun, Jared Owens, Billy Sell, Sable Elyse Smith, Justin Sterling, Todd (Hyung-Rae) Tarselli, Jerome Washington, Aimee Wissman, and Women on the Rise!, among others
Along with the exhibition, MoMA PS1 hosts events, discussions, and programs to educate how mass incarceration impacts culture and society. It also explores the creation of healthy communities without relying on imprisonment.
The show’s guest curator, Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, is a Professor of American Studies and Art History at Rutgers University. She has spent over a decade researching art and creative practices within the prisons after witnessing friends and family’s suffering. Dr. Fleetwood’s assistants included Amy Rosenblum-Martín, Guest Assistant Curator, Jocelyn Miller, former Assistant Curator, MoMA PS1, and Josephine Graf, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA PS1.
Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration runs through April 4, 2021. There is still plenty of time to visit this stunning show that offers visibility and a voice to those who can rarely speak out. It is an event that will be discussed for years to come.
