Captivity, 1974, 2023
Quilting Fabric, Thread, and Batting
74 x 49 in
Photo by Tim Johnson, courtesy of the Artist and Library Street Collective
Los Angeles-based artist Gary Tyler has been awarded the 2024 Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize.
The award — which was launched with Endeavor Impact and is presented in partnership this year with The Center for Art and Advocacy — will grant Tyler a solo project at the upcoming Frieze Los Angeles art fair and a $25,000 prize.
Tyler — who was wrongfully imprisoned for murder in 1974 at the age of 17 — will present a new body of textile work at Frieze Los Angeles (which runs Feb. 29 to March 3). The new work will expand upon his series “We are the Willing,” which was first shown in 2023 at his solo exhibition in Detroit.
Tyler uses a variety of materials, including textiles, to create images that draw on his own story and those he met while incarcerated. The work features self-portraits of Tyler alongside depictions of incarcerated people on death row. The work is meant to convey the “complexity of experiences in prison as well as fostering narratives of collectivity,” according to a press release.
Tyler says he feels that fabric has been somewhat underappreciated. “You look at painters, how they use certain paint to draw their imagery out, and stuff like that, and how captivating it can be,” Tyler said. “But when you’re able to use the same technique, although you’re not using a paintbrush, to draw a picture with fabric, it’s amazing,” he continued.
Tyler was on death row at Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana and spent nearly 42 years in prison before the US Supreme Court ruled his sentencing unconstitutional. He was released in 2016.
While Tyler was incarcerated, he volunteered for the prison’s hospice program, where he mastered quilting. He also was the chair of the prison drama club for almost three decades. Tyler has now dedicated his life to the visual and dramatic arts, according to a press release, “using them as tools to foster community and heal the scars of mass incarceration.”
Since the inception of the Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize in 2022, the initiative has recognized artists who use their talent and abilities towards social justice issues. The hope is to continue to expand, according to Romola Ratnam, Endeavor’s svp, head of impact, inclusion and advocacy. “Something that we want to continue to do is find, in these local markets that we’re in, find artists that we can spotlight and help accelerate and amplify their careers,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
This year’s application for the prize ran alongside the Center for Art and Advocacy’s Right of Return fellowship program which recognizes “previously incarcerated artists whose practices engage with critical projects including the reframing of societal criminal narratives and racial equity.”
Alumni and members of the 2024 Right of Return fellowship cohort were invited to apply for the Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize. Tyler’s winning proposal was selected by a jury that included Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, artist Gary Simmons and OWN Network president Tina Perry-Whitney.
Tyler expressed his appreciation for being selected and noted that he never thought this would happen. “When you put work into something that people will really come to appreciate it,” he said. “I just hope that given this opportunity that I’ll be able to pursue this and to really become a visionary in the art world.”
Frieze Los Angeles 2024 will return to the Santa Monica Airport, supported by their global partner Deutsche Bank. After its Feb. 29 preview day, the art fair will open for the public on March 1 and continue through March 3. Frieze — which comprises three magazines and five international art fairs — is part of the IMG network, which is a subsidiary of Endeavor.