Gallery Response 2 Andy L

“At Home With Family” (2021)

 

Julie Green’s Thank God, I’m Home exhibition resonated with me the first time I saw the works. When I was in the first grade my father was arrested and taken into custody. He fought his case for 5 years before being deported, and within those 5 years I went to visitation, court, therapy, and lawyers offices with my mom in order just to get him out to await trial rather than being locked up inside. Through those experiences I was introduced to the American legal system and how it treats its inmates. Julie Green’s exhibition was the first time in a while I thought about that experience and I realized that I wasn’t the only one, when I felt like I was all throughout my childhood.

Green’s piece titled “At Home With Family” (2021) depicts a family sitting together at the dinner table enjoying a meal from a Japanese style bird’s eye view. The piece drew my attention at first merely just based on the composition. I was intrigued by the different natural patterns she utilizes and her incorporation of different materials such as the gold sheet and patterned fabric. In the caption of the piece she explains “I have no idea how it feels to be (a) Black male and no idea how it feels to be wrongfully imprisoned. I do know Blacks are seven times more likely to be wrongfully accused of murder. I can imagine how foreign and surreal it must feel to go home after such an ordeal.” I relate to this statement, as I will never know what it is like to be a Black male in America, especially when there is an exponentially higher chance for them to be falsely incarcerated. This piece hit home for me because ever since my father wasn’t around I never ate at the dinner table since. I don’t know the exact details of my father’s case, so I don’t know if he was wrongfully convicted or not, but this piece reminded me of a younger version of myself imagining what it would be like when he got home, not knowing that he would never make it back home. In this case of wrongful imprisonment, someone who didn’t do the crime but was still stripped away from their family and friends, I could not imagine the pain and anguish they feel. The American justice system employs a “innocent until proven guilty” concept yet they have a history of mistreating convicts as if they’re guilty even though they haven’t even gone to trial. “In the history of African-Americans, the story of struggle has been a constant one,” (Mineo, 2) and the justice system is another one of the struggles they face as it has been rigged to disproportionately incarcerate more Black inmates than others.

“T-Bone Phone” (2020)

Another standout piece to me was “T-Bone Phone” (2020), and this piece depicts an iPhone with a design of a T-Bone steak done with patterned fabric on the screen while over a Charlie Brown wallpaper. On the bottom icons of the screen there is a phone icon, calendar icon that instead of saying the date it says “Years 27”, a Chicago Cubs app, and a mail app. In Green's description she explains “Exoneree hadn’t had a steak in 27 years and on release was surprised by all the new technology, like cell phones”. This piece demonstrates the loss of time while being incarcerated. When my father was first locked up I remember him still using a Motorola flip phone, and by the time he got out there were smartphones and all new technology. When you’re incarcerated it must feel as if you’re stuck in limbo, no way to improve your life, no way to get in touch with the outside world, no way to help your family, and just sitting in an eternal timeout is what it seems. In an article by the New York Times that referenced BLM they explained “these protests are achieving what very few do: setting in motion a period of significant, sustained, and widespread social, political change,” and protest is what we need to do against these awful prison systems. There has not been a plan for changing the prison system as they appear to want to keep it the way it is because it is working in their favor, not ours. Rather a system for reformation it is a system for punishment, a lifetime timeout, where people are placed in an environment that is not conducive to growing but conducive to self-destructive behavior with no support. As much as we make it a point to protest all these other issues, we should also make it a point to address prison reform and facilitate a system that is conducive for growth and reform.

I applaud Julie Green for what she did through her artwork, and it is something that the world needs. As Kimberly Drew said “Small actions foster change”, and although she is no longer with us, she was able to lay the foundation for a larger picture and allow the passing of the torch for other people to finish what she has already started. I appreciate her for what she did for putting other people’s stories into her pieces, immortalizing their stories forever through her works. Hopefully one day we can have a full circle moment when the prison system is reformed and come back to her piece and appreciate what she has done. Until then, we must all fight together and stand as one for change.

    Here's a selfie of me with a bowl of spicy chicken stew. One of the things that I always cherish is home cooked meals and I'm always reminded of how much I miss it whenever I am away. I cannot imagine what it is like to spend an extended period of time without any good food, definitely cannot imagine being locked up and being fed what is served in prisons.