Artist wants to put up for sale his most famous work, and wishes to make part of this sale, a charitable donation to two nonprofits, Money On Books, and The Strindberg Laboratory.
The painting in question stems from the artist’s work with The Strindberg Laboratory in the critically acclaimed play, Redemption In Our State Of Blues. Redemption was performed live at the California State Prison-Los Angeles County in the Mojave Desert, in December of 2015, and an encore in March of 2016. Redemption is one of the most significant pieces of artistic work to come out of Los Angeles, in the cause of Restorative Justice. It received local media attention from Public Television-Los Angeles, KCET, and ABC-Los Angeles, KABC. It also garnered national media attention from People. Former California Governor Jerry Brown wrote a Letter of Recognition, and Redemption received a Certificate of Recognition from the California Senate.
Redemption inspired the raising of hundreds of thousands of dollars in private and public funding to fund prerelease and postrelease reentry programs. One of these programs was BREAK IT TO MAKE IT (BITMI): Busting Barriers for the Incarcerated Project Los Angeles, CA, a first in the nation prisoner reentry program. BITMI provided two years of free housing from the Los Angeles Mission. Two years of free education from Los Angeles City College, and participation in the jails to jobs program of actual paid theatrical work with the theater group, The Strindberg Laboratory. Redemption also helped to fund an innovative prerelease program. This program provided theater classes to prisoners, and prisoners were able to earn college credits in theater, from Los Angeles City College. Los Angeles City College is the oldest theatrical teaching class in the country. Redemption inspired the writing of the play Life Without the Possibility of Parole (a prison play). Life Without, is about women serving life without the possibility of parole in a California women’s prison.
The painting in question, Birth Of A Salesman, is the name of the opening act to the Redemption play. Donald “C-Note” Hooker wrote and starred in Birth Of A Salesman, and is also the artist who painted this work. In the middle of the last decade, when Google Search was asked, “Who is America’s most prolific prisoner-artist?,” C-Note was ranked second behind Chinese artist, prisoner, activist, and dissident, Ai Weiwei. Weiwei’s works sell in the six and seven figures. Inspired by these Google Search results, C-Note went on to do what he could to increase his art production and proliferation. He has now become one of the world’s most prolific prisoner-artists. His artistic voice has been exhibited, recited, or performed, from Alcatraz to Berlin.
Birth Of A Salesman (2016)
8.5″x5″
Pastel and wax on prison issued lunch box (cardboard)
Asking price $75,000, to which $50,000 will be accredited to the buyer as a charitable donation.
For more information contact:
Money On Books
300 S. Highland Ave.
Suite 6C-163
Banning, CA 92220
1-844-662-6624
To learn more about this artist, see article in the London Daily Post:
Donald “C-Note” Hooker the World’s Most Prolific Prisoner-Artist | LondonDailyPost.com
https://londondailypost.com/donald-c-note-hooker-the-worlds-most-prolific-prisoner-artist/
