Citizens

Fred Wilson, Antigua-Barbuda  2009

Fred Wilson, Benin  2009

Fred Wilson, Central African Republic  2009

Fred Wilson, Comoros  2009

Fred Wilson, Dominica  2009

Fred Wilson, Haiti  2009

Fred Wilson, Niger  2009

Fred Wilson, Senegal  2009

Fred Wilson, Seychelles  2009

Fred Wilson, Swaziland  2009

Fred Wilson, Trinidad-Tobago  2009

Fred Wilson, Uganda  2009

Fred Wilson, Ghana  2009

Fred Wilson, Jamaica  2009

Fred Wilson, Nigeria  2009

Fred Wilson, Saint Vincent-Grenadines  2009

Fred Wilson, Zimbabwe  2009

Richard Hamilton, The citizen  1981–3

The citizen was based on stills from a 1980 news report about the IRA ‘dirty protest’ at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. Paramilitary inmates had initially been given a ‘Special Category’ status. This was revoked, and they were treated as ordinary criminals. In response they decided to wear only prison blankets and to daub their cell walls with excrement. Hamilton wrote that he could not ‘condone the methods’ of the IRA, but was struck by the resemblance to Christian martyrdom. He also felt a connection to the prisoners since they had produced ‘wall paintings’. One panel shows the prisoner and his cell; the other is more abstract, an unconfined space.

Gallery label, January 2019

Fred Wilson, Gabon  2009

Nicole Eisenman, The Darkward Trail  2018

Gallery label, June 2021

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 1  1978

Karamustafa was arrested and imprisoned after the Turkish military coup in 1971. She was given a six-month sentence for aiding political activists. Prison Paintings depict the daily struggles of the women she was in prison with. They are shown negotiating the different aspects of their identity as prisoners, mothers, wives and friends. These intimate portraits capture the physical and psychological effects of the restrictive political climate in Turkey during the 1970s. The artist made the series from memory following her release. ‘I painted them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind.’

Gallery label, June 2021

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 2  1978

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 4  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 5  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 6  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 7  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 8  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 9  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 10  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)

Gulsun Karamustafa, Prison Paintings 11  1972

Prison Paintings is a series of fifteen paintings in acrylic on paper made by the Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa between 1972 and 1978 (Tate T15182–T15196). Displayed all together or in smaller groups, the works present an emotive sequence of images showing women of all ages in prison settings. They are painted in bright bold colours in a quasi-naïve style. The sombre subject matter draws on the artist’s personal experience of being incarcerated in Turkey in the early 1970s. Following the military coup of 1971 Karamustafa, who was a member of the 1968 generation and a politically active student during her university years in Istanbul, was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for aiding and abetting political activists. The Prison Paintings were painted from memory, after the artist had been released from an institution intended for female prisoners serving life sentences. She has explained her motivation in making the paintings: ‘I made them in order to remember, in order to be able to keep [what happened] in mind. After serving time in the Maltepe, Selimiye and Sağmalcılar prisons in Istanbul, I was sent to Izmit Prison to be with the ones sentenced to penal servitude for life.’ (Quoted in Rumeysa Kiger, ‘Artist Gülsün Karamustafa fulfils promise in major SALT Beyoğlu exhibition’, Today’s Zaman, 20 October 2013, http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_artist-gulsun-karamustafa-fulfills-promise-in-major-salt-beyoglu-exhibition_329239, accessed 4 March 2016.)