The Home of Folk Art

Donald Johnson - Symbolic Group - Photo Yam Gallery

From M&M’s & Solitary Confinement – ART EMERGES!!

Donny Johnson, in solitary confinement, housed in an 8 by 10 cell has created art out of a stimulatory abyss from the pigments of M&Ms.  Using a paintbrush made from foil and his own hair, images emerge on postcards that reveal the chaos in his mind.  Using other media such as coffee and Kool-Aid, the palette is stunning and the images somewhat haunting at times.   With little hope of ever being a free man, he paints for himself.

Behind Bars, He Turns M&M’s Into an Art Form-by Adam Liptak for the New York Times

The morning after the opening of a show of his recent work, the artist was in his studio, a concrete cell in the Pelican Bay State Prison, where he is serving three life terms in solitary confinement for murder and for slashing a prison guard’s throat. He was checking his supplies, taking inventory. (If you wish to read the full article on the New York Times website you will need to register, for free, as a user.) Read the full story here . Or, simply click here to view the New York Times video, Prison Art-Painting in Solitary, narrated by Adam Liptak.

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