Alex Krales
Lil Yappi 1 (curtain panel), 2020
Ink on paper
82 x 34 in
208.3 x 86.4 cm
208.3 x 86.4 cm
Copyright the artist
All proceeds go to Timothy Jones' education fund. From the artist: This curtain is a collaboration between two artists: one fighting for his life behind bars, and one living in...
All proceeds go to Timothy Jones' education fund.
From the artist:
This curtain is a collaboration between two artists: one fighting for his life behind bars, and one living in relative safety in Tucson, AZ. The curtain consists of 28 letters I received from Timothy Jones, currently incarcerated in Arizona State Complex Eyman, in Florence, AZ.
T.J and I became pen pals through the Tucson branch of the Anarchist Black Cross. ABC is a decentralized international organization with local chapters in many major cities. One of our missions is to establish a mutual aid community with prisoners like T.J. Up until June 2020, letters or pre-approved phone calls were the only way to communicate with someone who is incarcerated at the Florence prison. Due to the intrusive prison screening process, it can take weeks for a letter to arrive, but when it does, it can really make someone’s day.
The hummingbird block print is a transfer of a drawing T.J. sent me in one of his letters. He wrote, “my intention was to make a piece that shows an uncaged bird without any limitations of boundaries, free to go where it wishes, free to interact with who it wishes, a creature with the freedom to just be itself.” The kites I cut out are a symbol for the written communication that make it through the prison bars and barbed wire to the outside world.
The prison industrial complex is systemic genocide. It evolved from the slave trade, it continues to inflict trauma and inhumane treatment on millions of prisoners disproportionately effecting people of color. Prison in the United Snakes means extreme physical and psychological abuse. It means overcrowding, disgusting unhealthy food, extreme temperatures - too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. It means no access to medical care and constant harassment by prison staff. With almost two and a half million incarcerated people in the U.S. – about 25% of the world’s total – the prison industrial complex is a catastrophic public health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the death toll of this culture of cruelty.
Prison Abolition is a necessary and integral step to putting an end to this public health crisis. By writing letters, by communicating with our incarcerated peers, we discuss present prison conditions, offer mutual aid in the form of phone calls, visitation, educational materials and fundraising. Prison letter writing nights have been a way to meet like-minded radicals for generations and a staple of mutual-aid-based, anti-authoritarian queer culture. Collaborations across the bars are a small step towards liberation. I have provided hand printed cards and T.J’s address. Contributions will be donated directly to his continuing education in prison.
From the artist:
This curtain is a collaboration between two artists: one fighting for his life behind bars, and one living in relative safety in Tucson, AZ. The curtain consists of 28 letters I received from Timothy Jones, currently incarcerated in Arizona State Complex Eyman, in Florence, AZ.
T.J and I became pen pals through the Tucson branch of the Anarchist Black Cross. ABC is a decentralized international organization with local chapters in many major cities. One of our missions is to establish a mutual aid community with prisoners like T.J. Up until June 2020, letters or pre-approved phone calls were the only way to communicate with someone who is incarcerated at the Florence prison. Due to the intrusive prison screening process, it can take weeks for a letter to arrive, but when it does, it can really make someone’s day.
The hummingbird block print is a transfer of a drawing T.J. sent me in one of his letters. He wrote, “my intention was to make a piece that shows an uncaged bird without any limitations of boundaries, free to go where it wishes, free to interact with who it wishes, a creature with the freedom to just be itself.” The kites I cut out are a symbol for the written communication that make it through the prison bars and barbed wire to the outside world.
The prison industrial complex is systemic genocide. It evolved from the slave trade, it continues to inflict trauma and inhumane treatment on millions of prisoners disproportionately effecting people of color. Prison in the United Snakes means extreme physical and psychological abuse. It means overcrowding, disgusting unhealthy food, extreme temperatures - too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. It means no access to medical care and constant harassment by prison staff. With almost two and a half million incarcerated people in the U.S. – about 25% of the world’s total – the prison industrial complex is a catastrophic public health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the death toll of this culture of cruelty.
Prison Abolition is a necessary and integral step to putting an end to this public health crisis. By writing letters, by communicating with our incarcerated peers, we discuss present prison conditions, offer mutual aid in the form of phone calls, visitation, educational materials and fundraising. Prison letter writing nights have been a way to meet like-minded radicals for generations and a staple of mutual-aid-based, anti-authoritarian queer culture. Collaborations across the bars are a small step towards liberation. I have provided hand printed cards and T.J’s address. Contributions will be donated directly to his continuing education in prison.
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