“The Distance Between: Traveling Beyond Count Time”
inStudio
473 25th Street
Oakland
Exhibition ongoing
“The distance between the past and the present is smaller than we like to admit,” writes Orlando Smith. “I feel connected to my ancestors when I see a correctional officer who can appear almost identical to an antebellum overseer—same skin, same hate, different uniform.”
Mr. Smith, who goes by ‘O. Smith,’ is serving 8 life sentences at San Quentin State Prison. His written statement and pen and ink on paper piece, “No Warning Shots,” are just inside the entrance to inStudio, a new gallery on 25th Street. The gallery’s inaugural show, “The Distance Between: Traveling Beyond Count Time,” is an exhibition of 21 works by 8 artists, all of whom are incarcerated in correctional institutions throughout the United States.
The space was packed for the gallery’s grand opening. Curated by Empowerment Avenue, a non-profit organization whose mission is “to normalize the inclusion of incarcerated writers and artists in mainstream venues,” the exhibit showcases the life of the mind and the strength of the human spirit to resist despair and resignation in favor of hope.
Navigating through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, I squeezed toward the walls to check out the art. The piece that drew my eye straightaway was “Nonrefundable” by Alvin Smith, an acrylic on unstretched canvas work depicting a busy scene where people linger in a convenience store parking lot: a group of men shooting dice, a guy on a tricked-out orange motorcycle, a homeless man, and folks drinking from red plastic cups amongst hot rods shining in the litter-strewn lot.
That painting, and two of his other pieces, “Classified” and “Regressive Intent,” a moving and full-of-action painting of an ICE raid and protesters, reminded me of the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder for its lively, multi-subject activity and high vantage point. Smith’s work is a feast for the eye. His works are alive with humanity, their many figures rendered as engaged and in motion.
Another pair of gloriously busy pieces were by O. Smith, “Protest Poster #55” and “Protest Poster #57,” both pen, ink, marker, colored pencil, and acrylic on illustration board. A crowded array of fanciful figures—superheroes, cartoon characters, a man in a gas mask, elves, the grim reaper, etc.—occupy the works, each holding a protest placard with phrases such as “A Lie Told Often Enough Becomes the Truth” and “Racism is a Virus.” They stand jumbled together in demonstrative resistance. One could easily spend an hour examining these buzzingly vibrant pieces.
After viewing M. Seishin Cádiz’s prismacolor pencil and ink piece, “Pre-Release,” I chatted with Rahsaan Thomas who was standing nearby. Mr. Thomas is Executive Director and co-founder of Empowerment Avenue. Earlier in the evening he’d given an impassioned and heartfelt speech along with Director of Visual Arts for Liberation Christine Lashaw, and Director of Creative Liberation De’jon Joy. Thomas spent 22 years of a double life sentence at San Quentin before his sentence was commuted in 2023. A filmmaker, writer, and spoken word artist, he created Empowerment Avenue in 2020. He told me that the artists in the exhibition were chosen for their works’ individuality and the creators’ serious commitment to being artists.
Rahsaan Thomas
Four months after Mr. Thomas was paroled, Friendly Signs, a documentary he directed, wrote, and produced while in prison, premiered at the San Francisco Documentary Festival. Another of his films, made in collaboration with director Adamu Chan, What These Walls Won’t Hold, was screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
The opening was fantastic, and deeply inspiring on multiple levels. I was reminded of my time as Coordinator of the PEN Prison Writing Program when I lived in New York many years ago. Oftentimes drawings by prisoners accompanied the manuscripts we received. But few were as well-wrought and striking as those displayed in “The Distance Between.”
The show is ongoing: there’s no end date and works will rotate in and out with different artworks on exhibit. I’ll be back at inStudio again to see what’s new.
