University of Calif. Research
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tiffany López, a UC Riverside professor, led a panel discussion for a recent art exhibition focused on prison spaces, imprisoned people, and the prison industrial complex.
López shared her experiences of driving to visit her brother, often early in the morning and often a great distance to the remote locations of many California prisons. “It is beautiful,” she said, but then the prison “looms and intrudes” on the landscape.
The photograph above is part of a book that Alyse Emdur (one of the artists and panelists) has published that documents visiting room murals in prisons around the country.
Prison Landscapes explores this little-known genre of painting and portraiture seen only by inmates, visitors and prison employees. Created specifically for escape and self-representation, the paintings of tropical beaches, waterfalls, mountain vistas and cityscapes invite sitters to engage in fantasies of freedom.
Full story: Geographies of Detention, Inside and from Afar