Marieke Kruger presented the Outsiders vs Insiders Prison Art Project at Fire Station Gallery in Rosebank

Insiders vs Outsiders – Thoughts & Dreams is a two-person exhibition containing works by Marieke Kruger and Sandro Trapani, as well as works by convicts and ex-inmates mentored by Marieke Kruger’s Outsider/Insider Prison Art Project.

The project focuses on printmaking and sketching as therapeutic fine art techniques, with the ultimate goal of positive identity transformation and rehabilitation of convicts with artistic skills, both within and outside of the prison walls.

Marieke Kruger, a contemporary visual artist, was excited for the show opening at Lizamore & Associates at the Fire Station Gallery in Rosebank. The exhibition included some of her work, Alessandro Tranpani’s sculptural work, as well as a selection of the prisoners’ latest lino, woodcut and etching prints.

The exhibition focused on the experience of being in and out of a carceral space on a psychological, physical and spiritual level.

“In my work, I seek to explore the transformative potential of the empathic sublime through drawing. In these drawings of former prisoners, I explore the emotive and expressive qualities of the drawing material, surface and drawing trace as symbolic and autonomous means of communication. In so doing, I explore the subliminal qualities of suggestive drawing trace as a possible autonomous entity and carrier of meaning,” said Kruger.

Kruger explained that the topic is reflected upon from various perspectives through her work and interaction with the prisoners (Insiders as well as Outsiders), the prisoners themselves, as well as from the perspective of the sculptor, Alessandro Trapani.

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