Over two days on 14 – 15 August HMP Grendon saw In Place of Hate, Edmund Clark’s installation originally exhibited at Ikon Gallery in Birmingham from 6 December 2017 until 11 March 2018, presented to the prison inmates, staff, as well as invited guests.

On Wednesday 25 July, artist and Ladywood resident Maral Mamaghanizadeh is leading a workshop on Ikon’s Slow Boat.

Read more about Oliver’s work experience week at Ikon.

This catalogue accompanied artist Edmund Clark’s exhibition In Place of Hate at Ikon Gallery. Clark was Ikon’s artist in residence at Europe’s only entirely therapeutic prison, HMP Grendon, in Buckinghamshire. This exhibition is the culmination of his residency, combining photography, video and installation to explore ideas of visibility, representation, trauma and self-image and address how prisoners and the criminal justice system are perceived and discussed by the public, politicians and media in Britain today.

My Shadow’s Reflection is part of a body of work made by Edmund Clark as artist in residence in Europe’s only entirely therapeutic prison environment, HMP Grendon.

British artist Edmund Clark is Ikon’s artist-in-residence (2014–2018) at Europe’s only entirely therapeutic prison, HMP Grendon, in Buckinghamshire. In Place of Hate (Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 6 Dec 2017 – 11 Mar 2018) is the culmination of his residency, comprising photography, video and installation.Clark, an artist with a longstanding interest in incarceration and its effects, has worked with inmates, prison officers and therapeutic staff, immersed himself in the prison routines and taken part in wing community meetings, a key element of life at Grendon. Clark’s work is shaped by his engagement with issues of censorship, security and control. He cannot make images that reveal the identity of the prisoners or details of the security infrastructure and so his response has been to create work that explores ideas of visibility, representation, trauma and self-image. These themes influence how prisoners and the criminal justice system are perceived by the public, politicians and media and are above all central to the experience of the men and staff engaged in the therapeutic process at Grendon.

Anna McNay writes: “Edmund Clark isn’t one to pick easy subjects for his work. As an editorial photographer, he found himself working with teenage fathers and elderly prisoners, and this set him on his route to working with terror suspects, prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, and, most recently, a three-year residency at the UK’s only wholly therapeutic prison, HMP Grendon, where he worked with the inmates to produce four new bodies of challenging work, each employing methods new to his practice, which are now on show at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.”

Interview with artist Edmund Clark to coincide with Ikon’s exhibition – Edmund Clark, In Place of Hate (6 December 2017 – 11 March 2018).

Rosalind Duguid writes in her interview with Edmund Clark for Elephant magazine: “In the first room of Edmund Clark’s exhibition at Ikon Gallery, a low white wall demarcates a small rectangular space. Built into the top of this wall is a lightbox layered with an array of pressed wild flowers. It’s a delicate vision until you realize that the cramped space outlined is the exact dimensions of a cell within HMP Grendon, the prison at which Clark has been artist-in-residence for the past three years.”

Read more about Ikon Slow Boat artist-in-residence Mahtab Hussain’s, time at Ladywood Health and Community Centre.

Last week saw the third annual exhibition of the prisoners’ artwork held at HMP Grendon. Organised by the inmates themselves under the supervision of Edmund Clark the exhibition was visited by over 60 invited artists, curators, writers and other interested guests, as well as many of the staff. The event, held at the conference centre of the prison, is an important opportunity for the inmates to meet the visitors and discuss their art and their activities at HMP Grendon. One of the guests commented: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to become a small part of this excellent approach to helping the men in Grendon. It’s added another dimension to my life.” Another had written: “This exhibition and day have felt like an immense privilege. I hope the programme to support the artists here can continue for many, many years.”

Donatella Montrone writes in her article in the British Journal of Photography: “As an artist-in-residence for three years, the self-taught photographer immersed himself in prison life, working closely with inmates, wardens and therapeutic staff to create In Place of Hate, a multi-faceted series that, according to Ikon, “explores ideas of visibility, representation, trauma and self-image”, and how these influence the way in which prisoners and the criminal justice system are perceived in Britain today.”

From the introduction of In Place of Hate: Edmund Clark’s new work from Grendon prison by Miranda Green, published in FT Weekend Magazine: “The award-winning artist has spent years working on projects about incarceration and control but, as Grendon’s artist-in-residence, he spent an intense two or more days a week on the inside, beginning in 2014. There he made his own work in response to the prison environment, and facilitated art made by the men as part of their intensive psychotherapy and rehabilitation.”

The latest post by James Lomax, Ikon Slow Boat artist-in-residence.

39 of the many artworks or written pieces submitted by inmates of HMP Grendon for the Koestler Trust annual arts award have received awards or commendations, increasing the number by 14 compared to the 2016 awards. This includes 2 First-time Entrant Awards, 21 commendations, 9 Bronze Awards, 2 Silver Awards, 3 Gold Awards, and two Platinum Awards for a pastel drawing Hustles of Brussels by Mark and a painting entitled The Forest of Autumn by Michael. Congratulations to the artists!

Ikon Gallery’s Slow Boat has recently undergone a transformation as it embarks on its next three year programme, Looping the Loop.

Artist Edmund Clark in conversation with Director of Ikon Gallery, Jonathan Watkins.

Edmund Clark, Ikon’s artist-in-residence at HMP Grendon, has been nominated for the annual Butler Trust Award. The Trust, set up to recognise and celebrate outstanding practice by those working with offenders, received nominations equalling last year’s record high number. A significantly high proportion of these nominations, over a quarter, were received directly from prisoners. Presided over by HRH The Princess Royal since the Trust’s launch in 1985, the next annual award ceremony will take place in early 2018. For more information on The Butler Trust visit their website or follow the trust on Twitter.

Author Rachel Billington visited Edmund Clark and inmates of HMP Grendon:

Ikon is presenting On Kawara’s One Million Years at Venice Biennale this year.  For those familiar with the city the venue the artwork will be housed in Oratorio di San Ludovico, Dorsoduro, an old ecclesiastic building dedicated to spoken word.

Artist Edmund Clark spoke to prisoner Michael about what art means to him.

A selection of works by men from HMP Grendon went on display at Vibin’s a restaurant in Buckingham, a town just 10 miles from the prison. The opening of the exhibition coincided with the fundraising event of Friends of Grendon, a charity led by professor David Wilson.

HMP Grendon inmate Tom talks about his passion for poetry. His poem Guiltfoot Ron (below) received the Tim Robertson Platinum Award at the Koestler Awards 2016.

25 of the many artworks submitted by prisoners from HMP Grendon for the Koestler Trust annual arts award have received awards or commendations, more than doubling the success in the 2015 awards. This includes 15 commendations, 4 Bronze Awards (£20 cash prize), 3 Silver Awards (£40 cash prize), two Gold Awards (£60 cash prize) for a mixed media piece Still Life for a Still Life and sculpture Group Therapy (photo above), and one Tim Robertson Platinum Award (£100 cash prize) for a poem entitled Guiltfoot Ron. Congratulations to the artists!