The Human Face of Death Row: launch night

Franck Martin

The Human Face of Death Row, an exhibition exploring the human cost of the death penalty, is now open to the public following a successful launch night at the Oxo Gallery on London’s South Bank.

The exhibition, which runs until July 5th, is the result of a longstanding relationship between Claire Phillips, a British portrait artist, and Reprieve.

“A few years ago Reprieve brought Ryan and Pauline Mathews, whose portraits feature in the exhibition, over to England,” explains Phillips, the artist behind the project. “Pauline spoke of her experience of having her son come out of death row due to DNA evidence obtained by Reprieve. Her desperation was touching and I was struck by how this charity had given her hope. I knew I had to tell this story and I decided to communicate it through portraiture.”

“The project grew as I realised that a whole exhibition of people who had faced death row from different angles would be an interesting way to highlight their plight. Meeting each of my subjects was extremely harrowing, particularly speaking with Krishna Maharaj. This British national is no longer on death row but he has life imprisonment for a crime that he quite clearly did not commit. They all have stories that needed to be told and I knew I could do it with paint.”

“The project was difficult to organise and it has taken about three years from the first time I contacted Reprieve to getting the exhibition open to the public and the feedback has been really positive.”

Speaking at the event was Clive Stafford Smith OBE, former death row attorney and founder of Reprieve, who explained how important it was that everyone use their particular talents to work to prevent and reverse legal injustices.

“It is wonderful to see the stories of these individuals told in such a powerful and evocative manner and I thank Claire for all her hard work in making this project become a reality,” he said.

Martha Lane Fox, founder of Lastminute.com and member of the Board of Trustees of Reprieve, also spoke and used the opportunity to praise the work of both Claire Phillips and the charity: “I have been a supporter of Reprieve for many years and I am delighted to see projects such as this helping it to go from strength to strength.”

The exhibition explores the realities of death row from various angles. Phillips’ paintings avoid explicit visual reference to the death penalty; she aims rather to represent the human quality of each individual and confront the audience, not with the ‘otherness’ of her subjects but with their ordinariness. An accompanying soundtrack featuring interviews with participants and a commentary from a 1984 execution in Georgia provides a disturbing counterpoint to Phillips’ traditional style of representation.

The event was attended by a diverse crowd of activists, artists and supporters united by a desire to promote and protect human rights. David Morrissey, actor, director and Reprieve supporter, commended the joint project: “I have been an admirer of Clive Stafford Smith for some time. As I learned more of how this British guy had become a thorn in the side of the American judicial system through his work with death row prisoners and Guantánamo detainees I was keen to lend my support. Following Clive led me to Reprieve and I think the work being done by its staff is fascinating. The story being told by Claire Phillips is so important, it is a truly amazing project and I am glad to see the message being put out.”

Anna Perera, author of Guantánamo Boy, described the exhibition as a fine example of the power of art: “Men and children, which is the subject of my book, are being rendered to black prisons around the world and Reprieve is one of the few organisations working to help those who have been forgotten by the rest of society. The exhibition is full of portraits of gentle and magnificent faces and it is wonderful to see their stories being told in such a beautiful way.”

Funding from the Arts Council enabled Claire to travel to Miami, Atlanta and Mississippi to meet with the diverse individuals who make up the exhibition. “The paintings are incredibly powerful, they bring tears to your eyes,” says Tillie Sklair, co-ordinator of The Funding Network. “It’s wonderful to see an event like this spreading their message. The work of Reprieve is so important because they have a specific focus and in that respect I think they are quite unique.”

The event was also attended by Julian Braithwaite, Director of Consular Services at the Foreign Office and associate of Reprieve, who highlighted the constructive work done by the charity and the government in conjunction: “We work very closely with Reprieve and I think we have an extremely complementary relationship. They fight the death penalty in ways that we cannot and vice versa, we respect each other’s differences and different roles and still have a very effective working relationship. It is a brilliant idea to bring the victims of the death penalty to life in this way and I hope that in seeing people as human beings rather than statistics people will become more aware of what needs to be done to bring change.”

The Human Face of Death Row is open to the public from 11am-6pm at the Oxo Gallery on London’s South Bank.

Libby Purves interviewed Claire Phillips about her exhibition, The Human Face of the Death Penalty, on BBC Radio 4's Midweek on 1st June. Listen to the programme below.