Inside
Various Artists
Royal Festival Hall
Free
Created by Anthony Gormley, Inside is an exhibition of art by offenders, secure patients and detainees. The works are taken from the 2017 Koestler Awards, a competition run by the UK's best-known prison arts charity. The show aims to raise awareness of conditions in prisons and secure hospitals, and to represent the talents and potential of those within our criminal justice system. This years theme was 'Inside', a word which resonates strongly with prisoners and the feeling of ostracisation and claustrophobia many of them face.
Prisoners are a marginalised community, they are physically removed: hidden from the rest of society for purposes of punishment and overall welfare of the innocent. The exhibition craves a form of acceptance and empathy for the prisoners whose work it displays, which is a controversial and dangerous path to go down with the general public. The aspirations and hopes of the artists for the future and reestablishment of their lives do hit a nerve with the audience, and we almost begin to feel sorry for the prisoners, who we must not forget have ruined the lives of others.
Particular works which stood out to me were the exhibition cover - "Am I Laughing, or Am I Screaming Inside?" by Phil, HM Prison Lewes, as well as "Inside My Prison; Outside My Prison Cell" by Matthew, HM Prison Liverpool. Phil's work reminded me of Van Gogh's "The Scream" - the face resembling pure pain and torture, highlighting the mental state of many of these prisoners as well as the pure self hatred for the crimes they may have committed. Matthew's work stood out to me for less emotive qualities, and more for the pure skill. A simple biro ink drawing on paper, the illustration has incredible detail and structure to it as well as a striking composition.
The exhibition is a range of painting, illustration, sculpture, video, spoken word and poetry. I must admit that the sculptures were a bit lost on me, but some of the poetry was absolutely exquisite. A particular work which has stayed with me since is "Reflecting on 10 years inside" by Adam, HM Prison Grendon. Awarded Bronze for life story, Adam tells us how he is surrounded by "the anguished, furious bellows and screams of men who are hurting" and "murder and suicide", but not in a self-pitying way, more in a weird acceptance: "I deserve every minute of it". Whilst we understand Adam must have done something terrible, with a sentence of 10+ years, we also sympathise with his position through his emotive dialect and honest self awareness. The script ends with "I never want to forget how it felt, that day, to look up and see nothing but sky" - a beautifully poignant sentence which genuinely created a knot in my stomach and brought a tear to my eye.
Inside demonstrates the unique ability of those actually 'Inside' to replicate their human condition through various mediums of art. The exhibition is original, inspiring and highlights issues in our justice system which are so often overlooked or ignored. The 'dark' side of society is hidden away: brushed under the carpet. If you have done wrong, you deserve what you get, but this sometimes causes us to become overpowered with revenge and we forget that these people are human beings too. The exhibition is straddling a treacherous path - is it humanising prisoners in a way to promote sympathy and acceptance? Or is it simply raising contentious issues which need to be addressed in the treatment of all human beings? Go and decide for yourself.
OVERALL RATING: ****
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/inside-art-offenders-secure-patients-and-detainees
