For Immediate Release Dead Wrong: a new exhibition from the Track 16 Gallery presents Dead Wrong: International Posters Against the Death Penalty, an exhibition organized by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. The exhibition will be on view from July 30 through August 27, 2005, with an opening reception on July 30 from 6 to 9 P.M. The posters in Dead Wrong illustrate numerous death-penalty related issues, including the impact of racism, poverty, and political beliefs on sentencing. Many of these posters were produced while the prisoners were on trial or in jail, and thus convey the urgency of the issue. Some are commemoratives, marking the deaths of prisoners later deemed innocent or those whose guilt is still debated, including the Haymarket Martyrs, Sacco and Vanzetti, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Some are the focus of international campaigns, such as Mumia Abu Jamal, while others are unknown to most. The majority of the posters simply and eloquently focus on capital punishment as uncivilized, inhumane, and unjust. Political posters are powerful tools for organizing opposition to the death penalty. Graphics give witness to prisoners’ existence, inform the public about their status, mobilize support in their behalf, and prevent them from being forgotten by the next generations and remind the viewer of histories too often hidden and warn that the judicial system frequently errs. Innocents are still condemned to die, and even one executed innocent is too many. Through this and other traveling exhibitions, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics reclaims the power of art to inform, inspire, and incite to action. Dead Wrong will be shown in conjunction with PreMeditated: Meditations on Capital Punishment Recent Works by Malaquias Montoya. In conjunction with the exhibition Track 16 Gallery will host two events: A staging of the theatrical work,“THE EXONERATED” on Friday and Saturday, August 5 and 6 at 8:00 P.M. Admission is $10.00. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the L.A. Chapter of Death Penalty Focus. R.S.V.P. as seating is limited (310) 264-4678. Written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, “The Exonerated” is a compilation of true stories based on interviews with men and women who spent anywhere from two to twenty-two years on death row only to later be found innocent and released. A panel discussion “Activism Through Art: The Death Penalty,” presented by the L.A. Chapter of Death Penalty Focus and the L.A. Coalition Against the Death Penalty on Saturday, August 20 at 7:00 P.M. Suggested donation $10. R.S.V.P. (310) 264-2678. Panelists include artist Malaquias Montoya, author Barbara Becnel, actors Mike Farrell (President of Death Penalty Focus) and Shelley Fabares, and more special guests. The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) is an educational and research archive that collects, preserves and exhibits graphics of social change. With more than 50,000 political posters, CSPG is the largest collection of post World War II human rights and protest posters in the U.S. The posters in Dead Wrong are from Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex an exhibition to premiere Spring 2006 at the Watts Towers Art Center. Funded in part by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.
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