Alex Warble

"Last Meal" or "Untitled"

Created for http://artistsvsdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/ 

February 2011

http://josephalexharrison.blogspot.com/

Antonia Tricarico

 

freelance photographer

http://www.antoniatricarico.com/

Brian Seldt

"Florida's Electric Chair"

Cut paper, 4" x 6"

I made "Florida's Electric Chair" because I am surprised that such an archaic form of execution still exists in the 21st Century.  More shocking is the fact that the executioner is a private citizen who is paid $150 per execution.

The piece depicts the actual electric chair used by Florida State. I cut the wood-grain in the seat to echo profiles of people who have passed through the chair.

brianseldt@yahoo.com
http://www.brianseldt.com/ 

Terry Schutte



The death penalty is state sanctioned murder.

www.onr.com/user/tschutte

Linda Lee

From Death to Life

This article was contributed to Artists vs. Death Penalty Blogspot (2/6/11):

http://www.dangerouslinda.com/?page_id=153   

http://www.dangerouslinda.com/

Margaret Whiting

"A Case Against the Death Penalty."

 



It is made with old law book text pages that discuss the Death Penalty.  On the law text pages I circled the following words to build a new statement:

Avoid wounding the public sense of humanity.  The punishment of death is, doubtless, murder by the arm of the government of the United States.

And where express constitutional provisions on this subject appear to be wanting,
the same principles must be regarded as fundamental doctrines in every state, that no person can be deprived of life.

In the center of the artwork is a drawing of veins of the arm from a human anatomy book.  Execution by lethal injection or any method is wrong.

Margaret Whiting
1974 Caras Road
Waterloo, IA  50701
319-291-6994

mwhitingbookart@hotmail.com

Linda Larsen

Now I Know My ABC’s

Now I Know My ABC’s shows the effects of the 1976 decision by the US Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty. By 2004, at the time this piece was completed, 976 men and women had been put to death, and still counting. The 30 steel-engraved blocks bear the names of the executed and represent the idea that each of us was once a child—someone’s child. That initial innocence cannot be undone by any sentence, even the sentence of death.

Housed in a bullet-proof box, the stackable blocks are made of machined and hand-etched steel.

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial: These Lincoln Logs are made of steel prison bars and commemorate Marian Anderson’s 1939 performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. After she was refused permission to perform at Constitution Hall because of her race. Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for Anderson to perform at the Memorial to a live audience of 70,000 people.



Separate but Equal

Separate but Equal: In 1896 the Plessy v. Ferguson case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. With only one dissenting voice, eight justices essentially legalized segregation. “Separate but Equal” remained in effect until Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall argued Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

Made of cast iron, brass, and marble, the scales show that “separate but equal” remains a theory, never an actuality.



Even the Very Hairs on Your Head Are Numbered

Even the Very Hairs on Your Head Are Numbered: Racial disparity in the U.S. criminal justice system echoes the country’s economic disparity. In 2005, when this piece was made, research showed that black males were, and still are, incarcerated at a rate eight times to that of whites.

Made of blackened steel, human hair and brass, the brushes ask the question, What happens to creativity when access to education and resources is denied because of privilege? 

Linda Larsen

2004

The four sculptures in this series offer a look at the way the inequities in our social structure perpetuate the need for punishment, imprisonment, and generational hardship. Incarceration is one quick-fix solution to stop behaviors that cross the line into illegal acts, yet artists are some of the first people who have been known to cross those lines. Without equal privilege, access to education, and resources, some of the most creative thinking can end in sorrowful statistics.

These sculptures have been included in exhibitions (see resume): Loyal Opposition, Justice for All, and American Standards.

 

Linda Larsen

Asheville, NC

lilarsen@charter.net

 

Maryam Lavaf and Majid Roohafza

innocent!

Mixed media, 48x60 inches, acrylic on canvas.

How would you feel if your beloved one was to be executed?

Abolish death penalty.

http://www.lookpersian.com/
http://www.gallery3.com/lavaf/index.htm

Carolina Mayorga

Title: La Visita/The Visit

Medium: Video-performance

Duration: 3 min

My artwork addresses issues of social and political content. Comments on migration, war, identity, translate into video, performance, site-specific installations, and Two-dimensional media in the form of photography and drawing.

This video piece shows some of the different ways in which I examine issues of war, violence and displacement. For more samples of works visit: carolinamayorga.com