Out of Solitary: An artist takes root, at Redeemer in Morristown

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By Peggy Carroll

For 28 years, Ojore Nuru Lutalo was in prison. For 22 of those years, he was held in what is called the “Management Control Unit” – solitary confinement – at Trenton State Prison.

at behind bars poster redeeemerHe was in prison because of an armed robbery conviction. He was in solitary, according to his attorney, Bruce Afran, not because of misbehavior but because he was a self-described anarchist, with associations with the Anarchist Black Cross and the Black Liberation Army. He was deemed a threat to prison security

It was during these years alone that he became more than a failed robber. He became an artist.

His materials were the only things he was allowed: Old newspapers, glue and used paper.

And from these, he ripped text and images to create original collages to tell the story of his life in isolation.

More than 20 of these works are now on view in an exhibit at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Morristown.

Many of the themes Lutalo expressed in his art are now being discussed in the church’s Wednesday night community-wide conversation about Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness.

Bonnie Kerness, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Prison Watch Program, who produced the large format installations, said that Lutalo began to construct the collages as a way to maintain his sanity.

It was also a way, she said, “to more adequately convey to his friends the physical and emotional reality he experienced within solitary confinement. He created a wide range of art pieces, offering both is unique perspective on the conditions he faced and the commentary on injustices more broadly.”

Over the years, he was asked  repeatedly to describe the conditions of his life — from the particulars of his cell to the profound emotional burden of long-term solitary confinement.

Dave Jones, assistant for youth and family ministries at Redeemer, said the collages are a “powerful commentary about race and mass incarceration.

“They are especially moving during Lent, a season when we acknowledge the separation from God and each other. Having this visual reminder of the reality of the exponentially growing prison population in our country vividly demonstrates the immediate need for a change in what has become accepted as ‘normal’ in our country.”

Lutalo was released from prison in August, 2009, and has since  worked with the American Friends Service Committee in its attempt to expose the nature of long-term isolation, the effect on the prisoner and society.

The exhibit opens on Friday, March 11, 2016, with a reception  from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. It also will be on view from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and every Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. through March 20, and will continue through Good Friday, March 25. It also can be seen by contacting the church offices at 973-539-0703.

The church is at 36 South St.

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