Damon Locks, Keep Your Mind Free, 2021
"“This is our list of demands,” writes artist Damon Locks on a handmade print: “Beauty, Form, Destiny, Love, Time, Future and Light.” On the opposite wall, photographer Sarah-Ji Rhee documents recent abolitionist protests in Chicago after the murder of George Floyd. Her work reveals vast and remarkable collective actions: living testimonies to popular resolve in the present. Nestled into the corner of this gallery are a large number of pieces created in classes organized by the Prison+Neighborhood Arts/Education Project at Stateville Prison. These works depict the emblems, customs and watchwords of an imaginary 51st (Free) State, populated by millions of currently imprisoned people. The makers of the works, though still inside, have already taken their first steps toward liberation by reenvisioning the existing carceral society." -- excerpt from the review by Brian Holmes
