July 19, 2017
Page 9
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Photo by Z aChary s enn /t he P ortland o bserver
Artist and retired attorney David Slader promotes a new art show that shines a light on the humanity behind the state’s prison population, standing in front of works
created by incarcerated inmates. The exhibit at the Pearl District’s Gallery 114 runs through July 28.
Human Beings, Not Numbers
Shining light on the
humanity of the incarcerated
by Z aChary s enn
t he P ortland o bserver
A new art show at the Pearl District’s Gallery 114 in-
vites attendees to confront the humanity of the Oregon
state prison system.
David Slader, the show’s lead artist and a former attor-
ney, says that the “Human Being,” exhibition will chal-
lenge you to think about the 14,000 people who are im-
prisoned through the Oregon Department of Corrections.
“Once those doors clank shut, no one knows that
they’re there,” Slader told the Portland Observer. “It helps
us to see that these are human beings, they are not just
numbers.”
The idea for the show came after Sladere began re-
searching prison-made art in Oregon. He was inspired
after viewing an image which was also titled, “Human
Being,” created by an incarcerated artist known as B. Pat,
who asked that his full name not be revealed.
The show includes original works by B. Pat and two
other incarcerated artists, Jerome Sloan and David Drenth.
The unique experiences of incarcerated individuals allow
them to express themselves in truly unique ways.
“There’s an emotional intensity that I will never have
in my work for the simple reason that I have never had a
life of that much pain,” said Slader. “I wouldn’t wish it on
anyone, but it is the essence of what great art is.”
Slader says that the featured artists rely on rudimentary
art supplies to accomplish their creative feats. Drenth, for
example, uses pencils from the prison commissary.
“He works with stubby little colored pencils,” Slader
said. “He has to get them short, so that someone can’t use
them as a weapon.”
The inmate, who has spent the past 35 years at the Ore-
gon State Prison in Salem, also uses makeshift canvas for
his pieces, which feature sweeping panoramas of surreal-
ist scenes.
“He works on a little board on his lap on his cell be-
cause there’s no art program,” Slader explained. “He cre-
ates a scroll using this thin brown paper that he gets from
the prison laundry.”
B. Pat is even more limited in his resources.
“He uses whatever supplies he can get,” said Slader.
“He makes glue out of toothpaste. He cuts things out of
magazines. He draws with ball point pens and pencils.”
Slader, who spent the early years of his law career
working with the criminal justice system, says that most
people would rather not acknowledge the scope of the
state’s prison population.
“We don’t want to think that we have 14,000 people
locked up,” Slader said.
Slader says that the Snake River Correctional Insti-
C ontinued on P age 14