Russell Craig

Malin Gallery is pleased to present Dark Reflections - an exhibition of new paintings by the Brooklyn-based artist Russell Craig. The show consists of 12 large scale paintings rendered on handbags that the artist has sewn together, along with three self-portraits on wood panels. Dark Reflections is the artist’s first show with the gallery.

While the Dark Reflections works employ upon a conglomeration of references rooted in art historical and pop culture genres, including rap music, comics and science fiction, the paintings all feature a latent autobiographical quality with implicit narratives built around Craig’s life experiences. Craig utilizes visual idioms rooted in cinema and mass advertising to create dynamic narratives characterized by alternating moods of frenetic action and still contemplation. Although the overt subject matter varies, the Dark Reflection works are characterized by allegorical allusions to Craig’s experiences spending 12 years incarcerated in the juvenile and the federal criminal justice system. While many of the works are intensely personal, they also wield implicit but vigorous criticism regarding the system of mass incarceration in America.

Craig employs his singular perspective as an artist to address powerful themes such as institutional racism and state violence. By encapsulating these concepts within compelling visual elements, Craig ingeniously conveys critical narratives regarding often concealed or unacknowledged aspects of American history and contemporary society. Though his imagery is frequently appealing and occasionally humorous, Craig’s work wields an array of potent themes: the institutional use of psychological techniques for humiliation and behavioral control; minstrelsy and the conception of mass incarceration as the “new Jim Crow” or a “modern day plantation system;” and the characterization of individuals impacted by the criminal justice system as inherently “disposable.”

Russell Craig (b. 1980, Philadelphia, PA) is a Philadelphia-based artist and co-founder of Right of Return, USA, the first national fellowship dedicated to supporting formerly incarcerated artists. Craig’s artwork was prominently featured in the critically-acclaimed exhibition Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration at MoMA PS1. Other institutional exhibitions include Truth to Power as part of the 2016 Democratic National Convention; State Goods: Art in the Era of Mass Incarceration, a collaboration with the Center for Justice at Columbia University; and a large-scale installation at the Philadelphia African American Museum. His first solo exhibition, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, was featured at Magic Gardens. In Philadelphia. Craig has been a featured speaker on multiple panels focused on criminal justice reform, and he served recently served as keynote speaker at the 10th Annual Student Engagement Lecture Series at Manhattan College. Craig’s work has also been featured in group exhibitions at Martos Gallery, Aperture Gallery, and Malin Gallery. Dark Reflections at Malin Gallery is the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York City. Craig’s work is included in several prominent private collections and is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum.