Marie Mason and Kelly Poe Exhibition, Illinois

Kelly Poe, Jeffrey \'Free\' Luers,
Happy, Fall Creek, Oregon, 2007.

An exhibition of Marie Mason's art done while incarcerated under harsh conditions, and artist Kelly Poe's photographs, opens Sunday, September 23, 2-4 pm and runs through October 23 at The Suburban Gallery, Oak Park, Illinois.

Many of the paintings by Mason that will be displayed can be seen on her support web site.  In March 2008, Marie Mason, mother of two and long-time activist in the environmental and labor movements, was arrested by federal authorities for charges related to two acts of property destruction; no one was injured in either of them. She accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced in 2009 to just under 22 years. She is now serving the longest sentence of any "Green Scare" prisoner.

Kelly Poe's book, For the Wild, states on the back cover:

One artist asks seven imprisoned activists: What are the sacred places you travel to in your mind to keep you sane? Beginning with this question, Kelly begins prison correspondence with those the government has deemed 'eco-terrorists.' The journey takes her from Sabino Canyon in Arizona to the Twin Lakes of Oregon, photographing the sacred places that inspire those who risked their freedom for a better world. For The Wild compiles Poe's letters with prisoners of conscience and vivid photographs, juxtaposing a cold world of concrete and steel with pulsing images of the natural world. In photos and raw prison letters, For The Wild gives voice to imprisoned animal rights and environmental activists, while showing the places that inspired them to work outside the law to save the earth and its inhabitants.

Thanks to Fifth Estate for the update.

The Suburban Gallery, 125 North Harvey Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois 60302; (708) 305-2657