Donny Johnson has been in solitary confinement since 1980, in one of the toughest prisons in the country. He is serving three life terms for murder and slashing a prison guard’s throat. At some point in his confinement, however, he discovered art, and has now had a gallery show in Mexico and some of his works have sold. Denied access to regular art materials, he has devised a paintbrush from plastic wrap, foil, and strands of his own hair, and he leaches the pigments from M&Ms to use as paint. He paints on the backs of postcards to create “small, intense” paintings like this one, entitled “Mosaic”:
Read the entire article here.
The article’s description of the way he creates his M&M “paints” is a testament to creativity and perseverance. Most of Johnson’s other works (displayed in the NYT slideshow) aren’t as striking as “Mosaic,” but his work is a tremendous example of human ingenuity under duress.
[This post was imported on 4/10/14 from my old blog at satsumabug.livejournal.com.]
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 
Hey Lisa! What an interesting way of looking into the mind of a convict. Through art. I hope you’re doing well. I’d love to have you accompany me at yoga one day! I usually go Saturday mornings, just give me a ring if you want to come! Then we can brunch in Los Feliz afterwards.
Hey Lisa! What an interesting way of looking into the mind of a convict. Through art. I hope you’re doing well. I’d love to have you accompany me at yoga one day! I usually go Saturday mornings, just give me a ring if you want to come! Then we can brunch in Los Feliz afterwards.
Margaret
[…] Johnson, the life-sentenced artist I wrote about recently, has been disciplined for selling his art. Just take the last thing he’s got, why don’t […]