Image above: Lodge by Howard Patience

The ICA recently featured an exhibition called Insider Art which is a special exhibition of work by prisoners and others in confinement in Britain. The work was selected from the Koestler Awards Scheme, an annual open submission competition which promotes art and design across the criminal justice system.

Since its foundation the Koestler Trust has developed a unique national role and is recognised across the criminal justice system for supporting and rewarding the creative activity of offenders and for showcasing their arts to the public. The Trust is funded by individual donors and other sources, but has also relied on a Government grant.  Sadly this grant (which constituted a fifth of its running costs) is being cut entirely this year.

Below is a selection of the art that was exhibited at the ICA and an interview with one of the artists Howard Patience.

Supernova Sushi by Howard Patience

So first of all it would be good to get a little bit of info about you… Where you’re from/how long you served and what you went in for?

I’m originally from Manchester and was living and working for a company that dealt in corporate events all over the UK. I was a gaffer for their stage and light work which took me too festivals and concerts all over the UK. I’m 38 now and was 35 when I went too prison. I got for years for possession with intent too supply Class A drugs (charlie and pills) and was released on bail.

I new that somebody had informed on me as when I was pulled up in my car they knew were too look exactly. I used too pop my wing mirror and throw it in there. I started off small time and eventually I shifted about a grand a week.

I would never let anybody round too my house and if people wanted sorting they had a maximum two hours wait to get it any night of the week. Like Jesus I rested at the weekend. All of the people I sold to were professionals - photographers, graphic designers, people in PR, even a couple of famous fashion designers.

I got let out on bail and knew the informer was my ex-girlfriend. So I phoned her up and asked her. The next day the police re arrested me and said I was harassing and intimidating a witness. That’s how thick the cops are. I would not have known it was her otherwise.

I got four years. But I didn’t have to do it all as it was my first time in prison and I worked my way through the system and became a model prisoner. There are mugs out there who fight the system in jail and never become enhanced status, but why not make your life easier inside?

Prison life - anonymous, group work

What made you decide to enter the Koestler Awards Scheme competition? Had you dabbled in art prior to that?

It was my last five months inside and I had been working my way through the prison estate towards Manchester, where most of my loyal friends were based and family so that I could have visits. I had a very good job in the garden crew at my last prison in the Midlands and could not get a similar job at HMP Buckley Hall. There was education classes in the education block. I did not want too go for the usual computer and English and maths courses. What’s the point?

I read for an engineering degree in the 90s and had that on my CV, so I went for art. I had some background and interest in it from an ex-girlfriend and a friend’s great grandma. I liked sculptors like Bill Woodrow, off the wall stuff and also liked a lot of graphic designers like Tomato, Peter Saville and London Police - all a bit leftfield so it was the right direction for me to go and try it. I did some work the tutors were impressed and then gave me free range. After I had done a body of work they told me that they thought it was good enough for the Koestlers. I knew nothing about till then.

Puppet Master by Peter Thomas

Where did you draw your artistic inspiration from while you were inside?

My inspiration came from the artists that I mentioned before people like Duchamp - artist that were rebels but not in the rambunctious sense. People like Caravaggio - almost anarchists of art… even Banksy and that pains me too say that.

I think he should stop hiding if he cant do the time then don’t do the crime.

My last prison was in the hills in Manchester and was on the circle flight path for Manchester airport. They came in so low that you could touch them (the planes that is). It was too do with me being refused a pair of camouflage shorts that I had been allowed in another prison. That’s how ridiculous the prison service is. They make there own rules up too suit their mood. ‘The Lodge’ was a symbol of a brotherhood in the class. We were from different backgrounds ethnically and religion wise. It was our version off the freemasons. Everybody is different. Everybody has different taste. Look at art for what it is and keep the opinions quiet. We were not restrained by critics in prison and I will be fucked if I will be on the outside. Its my lodge and I give out the invites.

How valuable do you think the arts are in the criminal justice system and how do you feel that the Government has just decided to cut all it's funding to the Koestler Trust?

the arts in prison are a inspiration for the people that work on them. Starting and seeing the finished product is invigorating for the soul. The people in suits have no idea what is going on at all in England. Apathy is one of the things that make this country great. Art is therapeutic in every form. If it’s good for mental health patients and children then why not for prisoners?

I will give you the mentality of the Prison Service and it’s government backers: a repeat offender goes to prison and has no money being sent in from friends and family. He is offered to go to education classes and for that he will get £4.50 a week part time or £7.oo a week full time but at the same time he can earn £10.00 to £15.00 a week cleaning on the wing. You  can tell witch job he will do… hence he will come out of prison with no education gained.

Madonna and Child - anonymous, group work

Arthur Koestler the founder of the Trust once described prison as “death of the spirit”. Would you agree?

You can let prison kill your spirit but not if you are a fighter. Oscar Wilde said in the Ballad of Reading Gaol:

Dear Christ! the very prison walls
Suddenly seemed too reel,
And the sky above my head became
Like a casque of scorching steel;
And though I was a soul in pain,
my pain I could not feel.