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J o u r n a l o f P r i s o n e r s o n P r i s o n s
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"Although I have been washed up on the beach by the tide of social
outrage, I continue to inch my way back, hoping that one day I will
be able to reenter the waterway of our society. Samuel Johnson once said, "It
matters not how a man dies, but how he lives". The act of dying is not of importance
; it lasts so short a time. If I don't accomplish all that I set out to do, I will have at least
accomplished some of it. Hopefully, someone has benefitted from the drawings and writings that I
have completed thus far. Should the state execution be the way that I must die with knowledge
in my own mind that 'I'M NOT SCUM'!"
-James V. Allridge III, from JPP Vol. 6:1 (1995)
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Artists' Guild
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One of the most enjoyable editorial tasks is choosing the art for JPP covers.
Prison arts and crafts have been prized for centuries, from the ship models and
letterboxes produced on prison ships during the Napoleonic Wars to the Aboriginal carvings,
and airbrush and acrylic paintings of today. The cover art images have been created in
a number of mediums. Puerto Rican political prisoner Elizam Escobar's "A Weltanschaung"
set the standard with the first issue, and once we were established, we had a wealth
of materials from which to choose
* * *
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Vol. 1 No. 1: " A Weltanschaung " (1986) ("world outlook") by Elizam Escobar
Escobar was born in Puerto Rico; between 1968 and 1980
he worked in New York City as an illustrator for various marxist publications
and taught in the city's public schools. In April, 1980 he was accused of belonging
to the Armed Forces for National Liberation (Puerto Rico) and convicted of seditious conspiracy
is serving a sixty-eight year sentence. Escobar writes:
Art and poetry, and their discourses, if they are for real, are always critical of Power: their politics is to
transform reality and not to merely ideologize it. We should not pretend to possess truth or to have the only, unique truth. But
as an artist or a poet with a critical consciousness is always uncompromising with Power in relation to truth, in order to be for a revolution and real democracy.
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Vol. 1 No. 2: "Mountain Echoes" (1960) by Ralph Danton
When Mountain Echoes first
appeared in September 1951, it was one of the six major penal press magazines being published
in Canada at that time. It was produced at Manitoba Penitentiary continuously until the summer
of 1965, operating in the relative obscurity of the Prairies, unlike Pen-O-Rama from Vincent de Paul
or Telescope from Kingston/Toronto On the title page the editor's write:
Mountain Echoes is published by the inmates of the Manitoba Penitentiary...It is designed
to provide inmates with an opportunity for self-expression and a medium for discussion of public problems,
and in the interest of promoting useful thought and action within the institution.
We are using a reproduction of their cover for this issue to recognize the link between the history of the penal
press and the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, a history we seek to continue and expand -Howard Davidson
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Vol. 2 No. 1: The Cover Art For This Issue Is A Compilation of Penal Press
Publication Covers, by SPAV-MPS & Robert Gaucher
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Vol. 2 No. 2: "The Shifter" (1989) by Norval Morrisseau
Born Ojibway, from Fort William, Ontario, March 14th, 1931, Norval was raised by
his grandparents near Lake Nipigan, Ontario. His grandfather followed traditional ways and was
a major influence on his life and his art. His first exhibition was in September, 1962
in Toronto. Since then his work has been recognized nationally and internationally.
In the Canadian Museum of Civilization, his work used to grace the entrance to the displays of
Canadian Native Art. On April 25th, 1979, Norval was invested by the Governor-General as a
member of the Order of Canada. He currently lives in Langly, British Columbia. His desire to support
the JPP stems, in part from his own experience of incarceration. He is considered by many as Canada's
greatest Aboriginal Artists. He recently has been the first Aboriginal artist to be given a full exhibition, at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa.
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Vol. 3 No. 1 & 2 : "Prison Justice Day" by Peter Collins
Prison Justice Day is
a day when people on both sides of the walls remember prisoners who died in prisons
and express their protest to the oppression and function of the prisons by peaceful
demonstrations, strikes, and fasts...Gaucher's history of August 10th shows that it was first organised by the Odessey Group at
Millhaven Penitentiary. From there it spread to other prisons and groups outside.
The penal press played a key role in that process. Gaucher's account illustrates the value of having
publications which insure a forum for the kind of dialogue which will build events like August 10th and with them conscious unity."
-Howard Davidson, Editorial Note
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Vol. 4 No. 1 : " Untitled" (1992) by Tony Bashforth
Bashforth was born in Sheffield,
England in 1956. He first realized his artistic talent at age 19 when, serving a Borstal sentence, he
won an Arthur Koestler Award for Prison Art. Later, while serving an eight-year sentence, he won three successive
Koestler Awards (1982-1984).
He has exhibited at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and the Hayword Gallery, London. His work
is also represented in the prestigious Outsiders Collection in London. His pictures have sold in Britain and Germany.
Tony has recently completed an autobiography covering the period from his childhood to his release from prison in 1986...
He describes his art as a safety valve and a means of survival, reflecting his physical and psychological experience.
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Vol. 4 No. 2 : No title Available (1993) by Mark Harris
A Former Prisoner Located in Cincinnati Ohio. This interesting sketch depicts a great deal in such a small space
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Vol. 5 No. 1 : No title Available (1993) by Dennis Okanee
He was born on November 17th 1057, on Thunderchild Band's territory near Red Deer, Alberta.
In 1969, while he was staying with his foster parents, barking dogs drew him to a window where
he saw a Native man going hunting, riding a horse pulling a travois. It was as if he had appeared
out of the mists of the past, and this encounter led Dennis to develop an interest in traditional culture and art.
However, it was not until he was serving a sentence in Fort Saskatchewan Provincial Gaol that he started to
produce his own art work. This cover features a Cree shield, sixteen inches in
circumference, made from hide, beads, bone, feathers, and paint.
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Vol. 5 No. 2 : "En Nom De Dieu" (1993) by Gayle Horii
This art was created while Gayle was incarcerated in Kingston Prison for Women and
at Matsqui Penitentiary. The artist explains:
The rationale used for torturing and burning women at the stake for witchcraft is identical to
the patriarchal need for controlling all women. Each black flame signifies the many assaults
directed towards the sexuality of women and particularly, towards women in prison. Her body is cut
signifying the pain she has already endured and the injuries she inflicts upon herself when her despair
and rage turns inward. The stake is invisible as are the ties that bind her, which signifies the covert manner
used to impose added punishments upon women. She asks: Why? Still?
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Vol. 6 No. 1 : "Piano Wave" (1991) by James V. Allridge III
Born to African American parents on November 14, 1962 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, James attended school in
Fort Worth Texas. He was found guilty and sentenced to death for a robbery slaying on June 9th, 1987, his first
and only charge and conviction. On death row he became a self taught artist and now has over 300 works in private collections.
His pen and ink illustrations have appeared in numerous newsletters in the U.S.A and Switzerland. C.U.R.E (Citizens United for the
Rehabilitation of Errants) has used several of his illustrations for their line of all occasion note cards. Since 1993, James
has produced his own line of Christmas greeting cards.
As a consequence of his confinement, James is a "copy artist" who relies
on photographs and magazine illustrations to provide subject matter. Piano Wave
drawn in coloured pencil, was first exhibited at a prisoner art show sponsored by C.U.R.E in
Washington, D.C., in 1991. In May, 1992, it placed second in original drawing that it was
based upon, is by Barry Leppard and was published in December, 1988 issue of The Artist's
Magazine, (Harian, Iowa).- James Allridge was murdered by the state of Texas August 26th 2004 after
spending 17 years on Death Row.
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Vol. 6 No. 2: "Chilcot Moon" (1994) by Bryant Ross
Bryant
Ross was born in Manitoba in 1951 and is of Scottish Canadian ancenstory. He grew up on the west coast of
British Colombia. His friendship with the Canadian Native artist Norval Morrisseau reawakened his need for creativity
and led him to open the Coghlan Art Studio, in Aldergrove, British Colombia in 1988. His work draws inspiration
from his respect for traditional aboriginal culture and his love of primitive and contemporary aboriginal art. His work has been
exhibited in galleries in Canada and the United States.
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Vol. 7 No. 1 : (1993) by Micheal Doherty (Long Kesh)
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Vol. 7 No. 2 : No Cover Art
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Vol. 8 No. 1 & 2 :"Wolf Women (1993) by James Allridge III
This was his second
JPP cover. At the time he had over 300 works in his private collections. His pen and ink illustrations had appeared in numerous newsletters
in the USA and Switzerland. He was also an accomplished writer and had recently published a book of poetry
and prose entitled Deadly Executioner (1996). Ronald K. Allridge, the artist's
brother, was executed by the state of Texas June 8th, 1995. On August 26th 2005, James Allridge was executed.
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Vol. 9 No. 1: "The Poka Dot Keed" (1993) by Steven King Ainsworth
Steven King Ainsworth was born in Los Angeles, California on October 3, 1944. He began his convict career in 1968 and
spent most of the next thirty years in prison. His last eighteen years have been spent
on Death Row, at San Queintin, California awaiting execution for a crime committed in 1978.
Steven's fiction and non-fiction, poetry and art work have been published and exhibited
in the USA and internationally. He is a self-taught artist. In his own words:
During my quarter century plus of confinement, I have always been drawn to creative endeavors in order to alleviate the boredom
and stress of incarceration. The therapeutic value of creating something positive in the negative
environment of prison is immense -Damned and Condemned, Steven King Ainsworth, Death Row San Quentin. June 16th 1998.
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Vol. 9 No. 2: "Lifer's Dream" (1997) by Andre Latocuhe
Latouche was born in Quebec City in 1956. Interested in art since an early age,
he has taken various courses while in prison, including design, graphic arts, pastels and
air brush. In 1998, he obtained his D.E.C in Arts. Andre's work has been awarded many prizes in painting and design. His work
tends to abstract modernism, with references to surrealism, symbolism and other styles. He works in many mediums,
including pencil and ink, oils and air-brush. He is serving a life sentence in Laval. "Lifer's Dream," was awarded
the First Prize in Painting by the Prison Arts Foundation in 1997.
"I consider this art as a voyage in the symbolism of a dream. The dream of a life sentence. I dream void of all
logic and order. A detached imagination, a vision unfurling, confused in time and space. As a whole,
giving the feeling like the crying out of a spirit which pours fourth its love, hate, its nightmares, its lost dreams, drowned in
the true to life carceral system where the abnormal becomes the normal. This art demonstrates the negative
transformation of the inner self and of the deterioration of a personality by the system."
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Volume 10 No 1 & 2: Compilation of past JPP Covers
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Vol. 11 : "Searching" (1998) by Bryan Semour .
Semour was born in York,
Ontario in 1956. He became interested in art when he was about six years old, drawing cover art for assignments.
While in prison in Ontario off between 1974 and 1984, he learned how to silkscreen and to paint with acrylics. Working
with acrylics appealed to him because of the quicker drying time, less toxic smell, and versatility. The content of Bryan's work
varies with the medium he works with. Also a carver, he finds inspiration in the lighter aspects of life; his
paintings are inspired by the more somber aspects of his persona:
"There are many facets to who we are. We can pick up different pieces of who we are and find things
about ourselves that we don't like. But if we throw them away, it affects who we are. In this
painting I was searching for the different aspects of my personality. I was holding these up to the light,
examining and reorganizing them. This is a reflection of my soul searching phase."
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Vol. 12 : "Limelight" by James V. Allridge III
James' work has been exhibited in outside art galleries and in numerous forms,
including art books, newsletters, and magazines. A regular contributor to the JPP, his award winning Piano Wave was
featured in Vol. 6: 1 (1995) and Wolf Women was on the cover of Vol. 8 (1997).
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Vol. 13 : "Solitude" (2004) by Brian Seymour
I Painted this about ten years ago, when I was working
at home. Being in a busy family with two daughters, with many people coming over to the house all the time, it was difficult to get any peace.
I needed time for my self.
This painting is about my search for solitude when chaos is happening all around me. I used one of my
daughter's dolls as a model for the painting, and went from there.
Bryan's artwork has been displayed at different art shows in the lower mainland of British Colombia, and won an honourable mention
at the Fort Langely Show.
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Vol. 14:1 (2005). This cover shows Issue Editor Viviane Saleh-Hanna with Nigerian Prisoners who were involved with the issue
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Vol. 14:2 "Inside Writing" (2006) by J. Christian Broderick
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