Six Years and Eight Months is not only the title of Chao’s current exhibit at G Fine Art but it is also the standard prison term for those who were caught drug-trafficking cocaine out of Peru.
The show consists of photographic portraits of women residing in the Santa Monica prison for drug trafficking. They mingle in the prison with corrupt government officials, hardened murderers and thieves.
In its entirety, the show is a prime example of photographic art as an instrument of documentation as well as a tool to illustrate a humanistic portrait of a social issue.
A Collective Individuality
Because the prison does not require their inmates to wear a uniform, the portraits do not immediately reveal that these women are in fact incarcerated. The lack of a uniform also lends the images a sense of individuality. Shylla appears strikingly stylish while others are more reminiscent of ghetto chic. The facial expressions are also diverse, some defiant and provocative, while others are resigned and poignant.
Chao states, “Santa Monica is not so much a “Prison Project,” but rather a starting point—a subtext and intellectual component for a humanistic portrait project. I am drawn to these women for their extraordinary experiences and the sensations that come with those experiences.” Clearly, the portraits readily concede that each woman has dealt with their common situation in different ways.
In Context to Previous Exhibits
Six Years and Eight Months relates to Chan Chao’s prior work Burma: Something Went Wrong in that both portray individuals within a shared, absurd fate. In Six Years and Eight Months, the women share a prison term for a crime that was committed in economic desperation. In Burma, Something Went Wrong the people are condemned to partake in a constant and literal tug-of-war fueled by opposing political ideologues. In both series, Chao captures honest, unmanipulated and captivating portraits.
About Chan Chao
Chan Chao was born in Kalemyo, Burma in 1966. He and his family left Burma for the United States in 1978. His Burma portraits were included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial.
His work is in several noted collections such as The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. For further information on Chan Chao’s work please visit his website.
Six Years and Eight Months will be on view at G Fine Art from April18th until May 23rd, 2009.
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