Prisons

Prizesnews

Textile artist Gary Tyler wins 2024 Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize

The artist, who was wrongfully incarcerated for almost 42 years, will receive $25,000 and a solo stand at this year’s edition of the fair

Organisers of billboard art project allege their show in Texas on prison reform was censored

Companies that manage advertising spaces in Houston reportedly called off the project with little warning or explanation

A pop-up museum in New York pushes back against 'excessive policing'

The Museum of Broken Windows takes on themes of state-sponsored racial injustice in light of New York mayor Eric Adams's planned municipal budget allocating $11bn to the NYPD

Crime news

Russian arms dealer and artist Viktor Bout returns to Moscow via prisoner swap with US basketball player Brittney Griner

The man known as The Merchant of Death was exchanged for the American athlete, who was arrested for possessing cannabis oil at a Moscow airport in February

Russian museum founder and former mayor faces prison for criticising Ukraine invasion

Yevgeny Roizman, who established the Nevyansk Icon Museum in Yekaterinburg, was until yesterday the last prominent opposition politician in Russia to not have been arrested for speaking out against the war

Cubanews

Health concerns raised over Cuban artist and activist held in jail

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was sentenced to five years in prison in June

Turkish cultural activist Osman Kavala sentenced to life in prison

He has been found guilty of attempting to overthrow the government by an Istanbul court

‘Communities are affected when someone is imprisoned’: Arizona exhibition explores the social impact of mass incarceration

The show, at the Arizona State University Art Museum, comes as museums nationwide grapple with the fine line between ‘fetishising’ prisoners and broadening dialogue around incarceration

Studio residency at the World Trade Center reserves space for formerly incarcerated artists

Silver Art Projects, which operates a year-long residency program at the Lower Manhattan office complex, has received support for the initiative from Agnes Gund’s Art for Justice Fund

Faith Ringgold mural will be transferred from women’s prison to the Brooklyn Museum

The work, dedicated to incarcerated women on Rikers Island, was completed in 1972 and was once almost completely destroyed

Banksynews

Banksy will sell jailbreak stencil for £10m to turn Reading prison into art centre

The now-defunct jail once held playwright Oscar Wilde on charges of gross indecency between 1895 and 1897

Shortly before her death, artist Julie Green concludes 21-year project depicting the final suppers of US death row inmates 

The painter, who died in October from ovarian cancer, also turned the first meal of exonerated prisoners into an artwork

Crime news

Jailed diamond dealer and art collector Nirav Modi fights extradition to India on mental health grounds

Modi, who is currently held in Wandsworth Prison in London, is wanted for allegedly defrauding a state bank of £729m

Facing protest, Museum of Chinese in America cancels exhibition about Asian American art collective Godzilla

Members of the collective argue that the museum implicitly supported construction of a jail

Artistsinterview

‘Prison is boring as hell’: Sarah Lucas on isolation and judging art by inmates

The artist speaks about her role in judging the Koestler Awards for art made by UK prisoners and the importance of creativity in confinement

Tom Gores steps down from Lacma board after pressure over prison telecom ties

Billionaire investor argues in his resignation letter that he pushed for reforms

Groups call for removal of Lacma trustee tied to ‘exploitative’ telecommunications company

Organisations target Tom Gores, whose firm invests in a corporation accused of charging prison inmates “egregious” rates for calls