Inside the art education programme run for people in custody in Ireland's prisonsAt the start, Sean had no interest in making art. "I just wanted something to do," he says. Now, he draws all the time.
Sean’s only view of the world is whatever is available to him within the walls of the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, where he is in custody and has been for a number of years. The artwork selected by Maguire for the exhibition is anonymous. Those who view it won’t know anything about the crimes perpetrated by the person who created it, which is part of the point. The art is put on public display as a kind of evidence that those who go behind bars have not disappeared from society completely. Exhibitions like Open Minds want to challenge people to “see beyond the person who has been convicted.
The specific date that Sean’s sentence started can’t be published, but he has been here for a long time. He says he’s obsessed with facial expressions, which is why he likes drawing portraits from pictures he finds in magazines. “You have Newgrange, you have all the Cathedrals, all high crosses in this country that I never knew were there. Never appreciated that they were there, but they’re there for everyone to see,” he says.
About 10 years ago, Maguire reviewed art education in prisons across Europe and said that “nobody was ahead” of Ireland. Maguire says the only exception was in Valencia, and that was because Picasso had done workshops in a prison. “Now, I won’t take too much of your time, I don’t even know why I’m here …” he says, unfurling large sheets of broadsheet newspaper, and with them, the smell of dry acrylic paint.
“People wonder why I give away pictures of things, but I can do another one tomorrow,” Mick says, merrily. “I’ve painted, drawn, read, written more in the past 13 months than I have in the past 13 years,” he says. “But in here, you have to be a little bit more … astute about what you’re doing. Because, as I says, I’ve been here a while so I know the way that this place runs so I don’t do anything to upset people. Not that I want to,” he says.