Freedom is a Constant Struggle

On a wall is a neat grid of differently colored documents. Some similar covered books, I believe, sit on a stand close to the floor. On either side of the grid on the wall is a shelf. On each shelf looks like some sort of light heating up something in a container. I’m not sure what’s in there.

February 18–April 14, 2022
Beard & Weil Galleries, Watson Fine Arts

Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Perspectives on Mass Criminalization is focused on prison abolition, and its title is borrowed from Angela Davis’s 2015 book. The work in the exhibition centers the perspectives of people who have been or are currently incarcerated. Each of the exhibited projects allows us to see the impact the carceral system has on individuals, offering the viewer a chance to reevaluate their perspective on the dehumanizing and harmful effects of incarceration. But each of these projects also offers solutions in the form of information, actions, ways to connect, and alternatives to incarceration. 

Ultimately, through the drawings, video performances, photography, writing, and gardens, the exhibition encourages visitors to ask “What would a future without prisons look like? What will it take to get there?”

Photo Requests from Solitary – Laurie Jo Reynolds, Jeanine Oleson and Jean Casella

Chicago 400 Alliance – housing banishment and homelessness activists

Architectural Drawings from folks in solitary collected by Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR)

Solitary Gardens – artist jackie sumell and Families for Justice as Healing to create a garden for mothers incarcerated in Massachusetts.

Mirror/Echo/Tilt – performance and pedagogical project with artists Melanie Crean, Shaun Leonardo, and Sable Elyse Smith

Milo Imagines the World by children’s book author Matt de la Peña.

and illustration by Brian Downey

  • 4 people looking around the exhibition.
  • Five people enjoying the exhibition.
  • 4 people sitting by the glass window of the gallery. Three of them are having a conversation with each other, and the fourth is laying slightly off camera reading a book.
  • Three people looking at the exhibition. Two are nearby, one is infinitely far away.
  • An image of growing plants sitting in green containers. Some are smaller than others. I believe that they are on some sort of cart, as it appears that they are moving in space. The light around them is violet.
  • An image of plants growing. The photo freezes this moment in time; the plants will never be this small again. They are encapsulated in a purple light, making them seem almost surreal and alien.
  • A sketch of what looks like a city. Different buildings with smoke coming out of them could possibly represent different streets. There is text indicating that the artist is living in an abandoned building despite having lived in a “regular” house beforehand.
  • A grid of 12 pictures hang on the wall. There are various doodles on all the different images, possibly telling a story.
  • Brown and gray blotches appear. The material looks to me like fabric that has been quilted together. At first glance, I had a hard time telling what was going on in this piece; with a closer inspection, I see faces and bodies, carefully carved out of the two hues.
  • A drawing of a building whose sides are cut off by the camera. The building looks to me like it is made of brick. There is text on the sides, but it gets cut off by the edges of the image.
  • Here is a drawing of someone’s room. There is red text that runs along the floor. I see a toilet, an oven, and a T.V. There is a yellow light fixture.
  • A person leans up next to a window, one leg on the wall and arms crossed. They are wearing a fully white bodysuit. On their head is a strange headpiece, with little eye holes cut out and silver, reflective looking protrusions. There are two thin strands of hair that dangle down.
  • A person stands in a fully white suit, almost like a hazmat suit. With closed eyes, their hands extend out to make an offering, almost like they are going in for a kiss. On the floor is a huge stain, what I could only imagine is blood. A chair nearby is also covered in the strange substance.
  • In a desolate auditorium, 5 people sit in seats. They have white suits on, almost like hazmat suits. Their heads don interesting attire; to me they almost look like flies. They all sit patiently and very neatly.
  • A document titled “We Will Make a Photograph for You.” Someone has answered the questions in blue ink.
  • An image of what I believe is a book cover, titled “Milo Images the World.” There is a child in the front with glasses and a green beanie, and a pencil neatly tucked on his ear. Behind him are drawings, likely his own. There is a butterfly, a cross walk sign, a dinosaur, the city, the sun, and a train. On the top it reads “words by Matt de la Peña/Newbery Medal-winning author” and “pictures by Christian Robinson/Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator.”

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