“Makes Me Wanna Holla: Art, Death & Imprisonment,” on view at the Logan Center Gallery, makes visceral the impact COVID-19 had on incarcerated people. The experience begins with a re-creation of a prison cell installed at the front of the main gallery. Designed by Chanton Bun, the “cell,” about the size of a parking space, is made to look like it is inhabited, with cans of food and a scant amount of clothing hanging from one of the bunk beds. During the height of the pandemic, some inmates around the state were confined to their cells for 23 hours per day, often with cellmates and neighbors who had fallen sick.
Accompanying this installation are brief audio recordings of loved ones recalling incarcerated people who died from COVID-19 in prison. One describes the onslaught of the disease as hitting “like a truck full force,” recalling that at the height, there were 15 to 20 medical emergencies per day.
The center of the gallery is filled with colorful quilted portraits, suspending from the ceiling, by local artist Dorothy Burge, depicting incarcerated survivors of Chicago police torture and other people who have been impacted by violence and incarceration. Burge’s work is but one element of the exhibition that centers the humanity of incarcerated folks.
As artist and curator Michelle Daniel Jones’s project, Mourning Our Losses notes, “We believe a loss of any human life warrants mourning.” Tied to that theme is a beautiful altar, decorated with streamers, candles, and flowers, paying tribute to some who lost their lives. Surrounding the altar is a plethora of hung work made by incarcerated artists, including pencil drawings, collage, and paintings in a wide range of styles, all reflecting on the experience of the pandemic.
In an adjoining gallery, an excerpt of Adamu Chan’s documentary What These Walls Won’t Hold plays, showing the organizing efforts to support people incarcerated at San Quentin Prison during the early days of COVID-19. Chan was in San Quentin when it boasted the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the country, and the film stems from his experience. Chan’s work ensures the voices and lives of those directly impacted by incarceration are centered, deftly embodying the ethos of Dorothy Burge and Michelle Daniel Jones and their impactful exhibition.
“Makes Me Wanna Holla: Art, Death & Imprisonment”
Through 9/10: Tue-Sun 9 AM-9 PM, Logan Center Gallery, 915 E. 60th, loganexhibitions.uchicago.edu
