Marking time: Art in the age of mass incarceration
More than two million people are currently behind bars in the United States. Incarceration not only separates the imprisoned from their families and communities; it also exposes them to shocking levels of deprivation and abuse and subjects them to the arbitrary cruelties of the criminal justice system. Yet, as Nicole Fleetwood reveals, America’s prisons are filled with art. Despite the isolation and degradation they experience, the incarcerated are driven to assert their humanity in the face of a system that dehumanizes them.
Based on interviews with currently and formerly incarcerated artists, prison visits, and the author’s own family experiences with the penal system, Marking Time shows how the imprisoned turn ordinary objects into elaborate works of art. Working with meager supplies and in the harshest conditions—including solitary confinement—these artists find ways to resist the brutality and depravity that prisons engender. The impact of their art, Fleetwood observes, can be felt far beyond prison walls. Their bold works, many of which are being published for the first time in this volume, have opened new possibilities in American art.
As the movement to transform the country’s criminal justice system grows, art provides the imprisoned with a political voice. Their works testify to the economic and racial injustices that underpin American punishment and offer a new vision of freedom for the twenty-first century.
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“A thoroughly researched and heartbreakingly personal look at prison art and the broader visual culture of incarceration… Woven throughout the book are striking illustrations of the work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists… While prisoners have been largely excluded from public life, the art and images Fleetwood highlights function as material traces of the disappeared, who, through acts of creation, refuse to be rendered invisible.”
“Marking Time is a tremendous achievement that provides one of the most important discussions of prisons to date. Nicole Fleetwood illuminates the world of incarcerated artists and brings readers into their lives with powerful analysis and care. It is the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish, inspiring change in us all.”
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
2021 Charles Rufus Morey Book Award in Art History, College Art Association
2021 Frank Jewett Mather Award in Art Criticism, College Art Association
2020 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism
An Artnet News Staff Pick
An ARTnews Best Art Book of 2020
An Art Newspaper Best Art Book of
2020 A Financial Times Readers’ Choice Best Book of
2020 A National Book Foundation “Literature for Justice” Reading List Selection, 2020-2021
A New York Times Best Art Book of 2020
A Seminary Co-op Notable Book of 2020
A Smithsonian Favorite Book of 2020
Reviewed by:
Reviewed by Adrianna Brusie in t’art magazine (June 2021), Felicia Denaud in Black Perspectives/ African American Intellectual History Society (23 October 2020); Matthew Joseph Irwin in Momus (24 August 2020); Miss Rosen in Huck Magazine (6 August 2020); Jessica Lynne in The Nation (25 June 2020); Jackie Wang in Art in America (18 June 2020); Lauren Christensen in The New York Times Book Review (22 May 2020); Patrick Conway in Arts Fuse (22 May 2020); Chloe Hayward in Studio Magazine (May 2020); and Daniel Fernandez in Los Angeles Review of Books (28 April 2020).
“The Breathtaking Ingenuity of Incarcerated Artists,” by Leslie Jamison, The Atlantic (March 2021).
“Carceral Aesthetics,” Conversation with novelist Rachel Kushner. Artforum International (September 2020): 108-115.
“Visions in Penal Time,” Conversation with author and writer Zoé Samudzi. Jewish Currents (Fall 2020): 108-113.
“From Marking Time: An Excerpt,” Hyperallergic (11 October 2020).
“Incarcerated Artists Are Making Some of Today’s Most Important Art. A Powerful New Book Explains Why.” Conversation with author and artists in ARTnews (8 July 2020).
Author Q&A in The Black Agenda Report Book Forum (1 July 2020).
Author interview in PEN America (23 June 2020).
Author interview, PRISM International Magazine (16 June 2020).
Author interview, The Modern Art Notes Podcast (11 June 2020).