Julie; Gilens Courtney, Todd (editors)

Since the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia closed, it has become a venue for various art shows. This exhibition, organized by the Moore College of Art in 1995 featured contemporary artists like Jonathan Borofsky who created works in response to all the various totemic, social, psychological cues inherent in discussions of prisons and imprisonment. This is by no means the first prison space converted into an art gallery, (I saw one in Quebec City some years ago) but it is surely the largest.
http://www.easternstate.org/ (See the links devoted to current art installations at ESP.)

I did not actually see this exhibition but felt the catalog was of long-term value as a document of late 20th century conceptual art.

In a recent NY Times, I noticed an item about the restoration of the murals created by a prisoner in the Catholic Chaplain's suite at the penitentiary. Very interesting article.… (altro)