In August this poster will be all over Harlem.
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WANTED A project of Dread Scott
Wanted is a community-based art project I am developing that addresses the criminalization of youth in America. As part of this larger project, police trained forensic sketch artist Kevin Blythe Sampson will create drawings of several youth, based upon the verbal descriptions of adult “witnesses.” These drawings will be incorporated into mock wanted posters describing the non-illegal activities for which young people are routinely harassed by the police. Wanted is part of No Longer Empty’s current If You Build It exhibition and the sketch session will take place inside the show. Forensic sketch-making is a fascinating and labor intensive process utilizing stock images along with verbal descriptions to create a hand-drawn likeness of each “suspect.” This performance-like event, where adult “witnesses” will describe youth (who they have only briefly seen) to the sketch artist, will allow spectators to see the process used to create the drawings on police wanted posters — sketches that are simultaneously specific and generic. Each of several drawings made this day will take approximately 1 hour. Viewers are welcome to come observe the process at any point between 1-6 pm.
Wanted is a direct response to the criminalization of an entire generation of Black and Latino youth, and appears at the moment of great concern about the NYPD’s recent raids in Harlem, its Stop and Frisk policy and outrage at the recent chokehold death of Eric Garner. The Wanted posters I will create from these sketches will be posted in Harlem beginning the week of August 1st and on the Wanted project website (a link will be provided next week). The Wanted posters will invert traditional wanted posters, ending with the line “The suspect is wanted by his family, friends and neighbors.“ This event will be amazing and you won’t want to miss it. |
