Phyllis Kornfeld: Cellblock Visions

Phyllis Kornfeld
Princeton University Press, 1997 - Art - 86 pages

"Powerful and beautiful stuff that, once again, makes us question our sometimes stupid definitions of art.... Here is art that evidences deep and personal healing and lasting change." David Byrne"Some of the best prison art I've ever seen." Norman MailerAlmost everyone in prison is either making art or buying it, " notes Phyllis Kornfeld as she uncovers the alternative artworld flourishing today in American prisons. Her book, Cellblock Visions, not only presents some of the most inventive and gripping examples of outsider art, but also offers an unprecedented account of prison art in particular as a subject worthy of serious consideration. Having worked for many years as an art facilitator in jails and penitentaries, Kornfeld is in a unique position to explain how art emerges in the most restrictive of environments and what gives inmate art its distinctive character. From painting to toilet-paper sculpture, the works of prisoners range from awkward attempts to amazing displays of virtuosity. In this book, Kornfeld presents the artists whose works offer freshness and surprise and tells the moving stories behind them.Filled with quotes from men and women prisoners and with Korn-feld's own anecdotes, Cellblock Visions shows how these artists, most of them having no previous training, turn to their work for a sense of self-worth, an opportunity to vent rage, or a way to find peace. We see how the artists deal with the cramped space, limited light, and narrow vistas of their prison studios, and how the security bans on many art supplies lead them to ingenious resourcefulness, as in extracting color from shampoo and weaving with cigarette wrappers. Kornfeld covers the traditional prison arts,such as soap carving and tattoo, and devotes a major section to painting, where we see miniatures depicting themes of alienation and escape, idyllic landscapes framed by bars, portraits of women living in a fantasy world, large canvasses filled with erotic and religious symbolism and violent action. The brief, vivid biographies of each artist portray that individual's experience of crime, prison, and art itself. There is a growing movement to bring the best of prison art to the public's attention for the dynamic immediacy of its form and for the power of its messages. This book is a contribution to that movement and a tribute to the humanity of the artists.

Adrienne Rich, Los Angeles Times Book Section "Why I Refused the National Medal for the Arts"
"Art is both tough and fragile. it speaks of what we long to hear and what we dread to find. It’s source and native impulse, the imagination, may be shackled in early life, yet may find release in conditions offering little else to the spirit. For a recent document on this, look at Phyllis Kornfeld’s "Cellblock Visions:Prison Art in America," notable for the variety and emotional depth of the artworks reproduced, the words of the inmate artists and for Kornfeld’s unsentimental and lucid text."

The artwork in Cellblock Visions was made behind bars between 1983 and 2011, much of it in an era that was a relatively golden age of creative opportunities for prisoners - the goal was actually rehabilitation - a word you don’t hear much these days. I discussed this matter with a convict I know and he was incredulous. "Rehabilitation? Are you joking? That’s the last thing in the world they want! It would ruin the economy!" "They want us idle"- said another man, after his art supplies were confiscated, "so we’ll get in trouble - so they can keep us here."

Popular sentiment has it that imprisonment must not only be long, it must be harsh - severely restrictive - routinely degrading - chain gangs and rock-busting. Many correctional institutions are chipping away daily at the so-called "amenities" of prison life; television, radio, coffee-maker, colored pencils. More and more gates to sanity are being slammed shut.

It is possible to exact justice without vengeance. Vengeance does not heal - not us, not them. It is common sense to help people to re-enter society in better shape than they were when they came to prison. Experiences of dignity and creativity can contribute to that goal. We want them to be wiser, calmer, humbly self-confident, with skills for practical survival within the law - and the inclination to make a positive contribution.

John F. Kennedy
"When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area’s of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgement."