Clubhouse Gallery: Russell Craig

Russell Craig at Clubhouse Gallery's booth is by far the most searing at the fair. Craig’s works unflinchingly tackle America’s carceral system, with portraits and structures referencing cell block doors and the abhorrent but still-timely case of the Central Park Five. His color palette—consisting of jumpsuit orange and institutional blues—pulls viewers in with brightness before revealing its darker implications of rusted time, stolen freedom, and bodies forgotten behind walls.

The works are incredibly arresting with Craig’s material language. With commissary items like ramen packets and chip bags, along with items made with prison labor like belts and bags, the artist calls to the resourcefulness of incarcerated people who craft frames from what’s on hand. Dry ramen noodles become a sculptural medium, narrow prison windows are stretched with burlap, and removable slot covers are chilling reminders of the systematic choice to dehumanize. The work’s scale and texture deliver a heavy impact, with human-scale confrontational portraits veiled by pastel smudges, held captive by numbered doors. These works are intense and telling, yet trying to piece together Craig’s process and methods is mystifyingly captivating. The combination leads to a booth that provokes thoughts hard to face but even harder to step away from.