Paul Scott- New American Paintings
The Angola 3:
In the early 1970s, three men were imprisoned in solitary confinement in Angola penitentiary in Louisiana, all of them members of the Black Panther Party. Albert Woodfox, Herman Wallace, and Robert King called themselves the Angola 3.
Albert and Herman were placed in solitary after being convicted of murdering prison guard Brent Miller in 1972; Robert was separately convicted of the murder of another Angola prisoner the following year.
All three men always maintained their innocence of these crimes. All evidence appears to corroborate their claims, and suggest that the Louisiana authorities served the sentences and condemned the men to decades of solitary under racially and politically motivated circumstances.
Albert and Herman were convicted by an all-white jury. The state’s evidence consisted only of the testimonies of three inmate witnesses, all of whom received favourable treatment in return for their statements, and whose trial testimonies were different from statements given just after the murder. There was no physical evidence linking the men to the murder; in fact, the only physical evidence presented at the trial – a crime scene fingerprint –
exculpated Albert and Herman.
Robert King walked out of Angola a free man in 2001 after successfully challenging his conviction. He’d spent 29 years unjustly in solitary confinement.
Herman Wallace was freed in October 2013 after his 1974 conviction for the murder of prison officer Brent Miller. He died just two days later.
Albert Woodfox was the last of the Angola 3 to be released in Febrary 2016. He spent 43 years in solitary confinement.
(Images of Angola 3 after Rashid mod)
Paul Scott, “Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), New American Scenery, The Angola 3″ 2019, in-glaze screen print (decal) on salvaged Syracuse China with pearlware glaze, 11x 11 x 1”
Souvenir of Rhode Island:
‘…the American slave trade from 1727 to 1807 might better be called the Rhode Island slave trade. Throughout the eighteenth century Rhode Island merchants controlled between 60 and 90 percent of the American trade in African slaves.’ Stanley Lemons, Rhode Island and the Slave Trade in Rhode Island History Vol 60 No.4, Rhode Island Historical Society, Fall 2002….
Peltier & Pipelines:
‘Leonard Peltier, a Native American has been in jail for more than 43 years, unjustly convicted of the 1975 murders of FBI special agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota….
The injustices that contributed to Peltier’s conviction are not subject to credible
dispute. Federal agents made false statements to the press; submitted false affidavits to courts; coerced alleged witness statements; and deliberately withheld critical
ballistics reports in order to gain an unfair advantage at trial.
When the ballistics results were discovered after trial, the government’s attorneys conceded – as they had to – that they had no credible evidence regarding who shot the FBI agents, and did not know whose weapon actually killed the agents.
Due to the numerous issues at trial and the exhaustion of all of his legal avenues for appeal, Amnesty International supports ongoing calls for clemency for 74-year-old Leonard Peltier.’
Paul Scott, “Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), New American Scenery, Pipelines & Peltier”, 2019, in-glaze screen print (decal) on salvaged Syracuse China with pearlware glaze, 11 x 11 x 1″.
Paul Scott, “Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), New American Scenery, Pipelines & Peltier”, back, 2019, in-glaze screen print (decal) on salvaged Syracuse China with pearlware glaze, 11 x 11 x 1″.
Souvenir of Shiprock:
‘Shiprock is associated with a 400,000 m² nuclear waste dump, containing the waste rock and tailings from more than 22 uranium mines and mills. In the mid 2000s, studies showed that more than 1.8 million liters of groundwater were contaminated with uranium, selenium, radium, cadmium, sulfate and nitrate. Parts of the San Juan River showed uranium concentrations that were between 47 to 97 times above official safety levels. While tribal officials have noted progress on groundwater clean-up in Shiprock, they have criticized the ongoing failure of the U.S. government to assess the health impacts of decades of radioactive exposure of miners and local populations. In their search for cheap uranium for its civil and military nuclear programs, the U.S. government knowingly exposed the local population to radioactivity, turning the Navajo of Shiprock into Hibakusha.’
http://www.nuclear-risks.org/en/hibakusha-worldwide/shiprock
The Uranium Series:
“Waste was dumped outside the mines, the rain and snow thaws wash the ore into the washes and the people blame this for contaminating their animals from the watering places. It is true that waste was dumped off the hill sides and the water carried it into the main washes. Meat from these animals is consumed, and contamination continues to affect humans. Forty-three of the people I worked with have dies now. Some time ago, I counted this. There are just a few of us still around.”- Dan N. Benally, Red Valley, Arizona.
“…they have ruined our land. There is spring water and they put holes in our mountains and left them unsafe. To this day low radiation is spreading its disease among us. They had piled up uranium ore beside the road which they never took care of completely when they left. They really did nothing in that way. They thought of us Navajos as nothing. That’s how I think about it and it really hurts my heart and mind”.- Anna Aloysious, Cove, Arizona.
From: Memories Come to Us in the Rain and the Wind
Oral Histories and Photographs of Navajo Uranium Miners and their Families.
Published by the Navajo Uranium Miner Oral History and Photography Project.
From the artist:
The New American Scenery artwork and exhibition would not have been possible without the help/co-operation of numerous people, organizations and institutions in the USA & UK over the past four years.
Credits artwork/exhibition:
Research and Artwork realization has been generously supported by The Alturas Foundation, Arts Council England & Ferrin Contemporary.
Thanks to RISD Museum for the invitation to be part of Raid the Icebox Now, and curatorial/support staff who have helped to realize the exhibition.
Thanks to:
All those who have helped in my research, travels, image harvesting and artwork production, including…
Andrew Raftery, Lesley Baker & Larry Bush, RISD.
Paul Holdway (Spode Museum Trust), Howard Coutts (the Bowes Musuem, Barnard Castle), Olivia Horsfall Turner (V&A Museum), Lucy Lead (Wedgwood Museum), Douglas McCombs (Albany Institute of History and Art),
Scott Rench (@yosoh), Tony Detroit (@tonydetroit), Mary Jo Bole (@mary_jo_bole), Leah Mitch (@Fleurs.de.sel), Beth Katleman (@bethkatelman), Mara Superior (@marasuperior), Shax Riegler (@shaxriegler), Hollie Lyko (@holitron2.0), Ed Bentley (@edbentley_ceramicdesign), John Polak (@johnpolak), Ceramics By Design, Jon Goodman…
Ted Rowland, Candace and Michael Humphreys in Texas.
Margie Hughto in Syracuse
Les and Jaye Lawrence in Arizona.
Garth Clark and Mark de Vecchio, Santa Fe New Mexico.
Karen and Timothy Benally in Cove, N. Arizona
Jeremiah Day, Selma, Alabama.
Akemi May & Rachael Delphia, Pittsburgh.
Andrew Raftery & Ned Lochaya, Providence
Scott Rench, Chicago
Leslie, Alexandra, Sergei & Kadri, Lily & June at Project Art, Cummington MA.
Jeff Farrell (@oh.dirtyfeet) for my garden fixes whilst I was in Massachusetts…
Reflective Text: Dr Jo Dahn (@jkldahn)
Particular thanks to…
Andrew Raftery for being a kindred spirit….
Leslie Ferrin for ongoing support and encouragement over many years.
And my wife, Anne Renwick for everything.…
Currently on view at The Rhode Island School of Design Museum through September 6, 2020.
Rhode School of Design Museum, Raid the Ice Box Now, Paul Scott, “New American Scenery” 2019, Installation view.
More information and Installation Views HERE
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