They will rise through the quality of their art
The inaugural exhibition of the Rogues Gallery collective was held in the magnificent surroundings of a refurbished Victorian underground toilet in the heart of Spitalfields, writes Michael Holland.
It will be a beginning that they will rise from because of the quality of their art and because of their fundamental cause to help other artists.
The Rogues are retired crooks, ex-inmates who have turned their previous lives around through art. All of them developed their creative talents while serving long prison sentences, often with the help of art teachers who saw their skills and nurtured them until they could go out into society as free men and make a living from the art that helped rehabilitate them.
They came together to form an alliance that could build up a network of galleries and dealers who would not judge the men by their former lives but by their artwork. Already, Sir John Bird, the Big Issue legend, has declared himself on-board as a supporter.
The Knight of the Realm gave an inspirational opening speech about how he initially chose a life of crime that saw him in and out of the prison system from a young age; of how it all nearly ended in a crashed stolen car when police tried to stop him escaping from yet another Young Offenders Institution. It did not end well.
Sir John survived but re-evaluated his life. He turned to art and he eventually left jail with a portfolio that he ‘carried up the Kings Road to the Chelsea School of Art’ and got himself a place there. His art took him on travels, which is where he met people whose intellect and knowledge of the world convinced him to become a Marxist – an ideology he holds dear to this day.
Knowing the true benefits of art as a way out of crime Sir John praised all ten artists at the exhibition and their endeavours to leave crime behind.
The work on show is an eclectic mix of styles and media. I was particularly taken with Ax and his paintings of women who were definitely in control. Painting only the crucial parts to get a story across on his mainly bare canvases, he uses text to tell the rest.
Some of the artists in the exhibition were still trying to find their own recognisable style as they experimented with different media, while others like Louie Simpson had found their way via drugs and partying. His current life of sobriety still focuses on those ‘darker experiences’ through his art.
‘Darker experiences’ was a theme that could be seen in much of the work; the artists had all gone through dark times. You could tell by the way they greeted each other that they had a bond; they had lived through days the majority of people will never know and, of course, the memories and scars that remain now emerge through creative channels.
Some of the art stood out for me. A huge multimedia piece entitled Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body) was quite special. The artist, Contra, said ‘It’s about when I first got my bird and they said I wasn’t getting out, so I thought I’d better have a plan – Mens sana in corpore sano. The background is all paperwork from that time, letters, nicking sheets, the Strangeways riot, prison rules, etc… The books are the healthy mind and the runner is the healthy body.’
Contra did get out and is doing will through the art that rehabilitated him.
Rogues Gallery is on until 29th September. 82 Commercial St, E1 6LY. In the underground Victorian toilets in front of the big church at Spitalfields. Midday to 9pm.
