![]() ![]() ![]() The display reiterates feelings of isolation and confinement by placing most of the works within separate cells, with the second of the three floors mostly focusing on specific figures who have been imprisoned or persecuted. By foregrounding the architectural, written and visual forms through which people were controlled and catalogued, Inside creates an interesting analogy between notions of imprisonment and exhibition-making. Along one corridor, photographs of prisoners taken between 18 are displayed, which draw attention towards the many men, women and children who were incarcerated, and later often disappeared without a trace. Inside begins by focusing on that fact, highlighting the physical reality of the prison by presenting floor-plans of the building and period texts that explain the benefits of solitary confinement. ![]() When Reading Prison opened in 1844 it was one of the first to put prisoners in separate rooms rather than a communal dormitory, which meant that there was no communication between prisoners who were encouraged to focus on private reflection and prayer. The exhibition draws upon this history, and that of the building, to bring together a range of responses by both writers and artists. After being released he moved to France where he died three years later at the age of forty-six. The experience crippled him, with Wilde losing his family, career and reputation. In 1895, Oscar Wilde became Reading Prison’s most famous inhabitant after he was convicted of committing “acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to two years of hard labour. But what happens when art is hidden away in a secluded space, one originally created to control and restrict behaviour? Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison a project organised by the non-profit agency Artangel, poses this question by staging an exhibition within Reading Prison, which has laid empty since 2013. Over the last few decades, galleries have increasingly become popular spaces for both reflection and socialising, all the while providing an experience with artworks that can be as personal as a relationship. ![]()
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