Conversation Piece, Art by Offenders, Royal Festival Hall

'The Cards I Was Dealt', HM Kilmarnock Prison,

'Conversation Piece', HM Prison, Arlington, Bronze Award for Sculpture

Several of the works in the current exhibition 'Art by Offenders' were of strong quality and insight in a range of media from needlepoint to mixed media sculpture.  The exhibition was curated by a group of victims of crime which were sourced by Victim Support, and trained by the Southbank Centre and the Koestler Trust, in conjunction with the former Turner prize winner, Jeremy Deller.  Highlights from the expansive collection of works from Offenders, Secure Patients and Immigration detainees from units across the United Kingdom included the mixed media sculptures 'The Cards I was Dealt' from Kilmarnock, HM Prison and 'Conversation Piece' from an offender in Arlington, HM Prison which received the Bronze Award for Sculpture.    The three dimensional sculpture of a card table was constructed in card, paper, paint and wood, and sadly signified the prisoners birth into a family that was consumed by drug misuse.  The artwork that was featured on the cover of the promotional material was a mobile  of conversation bubbles that was informed by a disagreement that the prisoner witnessed in her art class.  I was interested in the artists direct use of speech bubbles to signify the tenuous and ephemeral nature of the conversations held.  The style of the bubbles were very reminiscent of conversation bubbles in my recent installation, 'Digitas Communitas'.

'Art by Offenders, Secure Patients and Detainees' runs at the Royal Festival Hall until 14th November 2010.