Being on the inside

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BEING ON THE INSIDE
Four of the inmates portrayed by Elisabeth Werp. View all other portraits here.
Artist Elisabeth Werp was feeling locked-up and confined in her art studio and began to wonder what it was like to be really locked up. She contacted Oslo Prison and was granted access. This led to an emotional meeting between the artist and inmates that culminated in an exhibition entitled “On the Inside”. The exhibition consists of 14 portraits of inmates. These are displayed together with an art video in which some of the recordings were made at the prison. _______________________________________________ Text and photo: Knut-Erik Rønningen, published 16.10.08. Elisabeth Werp first visited the prison in the beginning of the year. There have since been many more visits. She quickly established good contact with the inmates and it was no problem at all finding people who agreed to be subjects for her portraits. Later, she contributed further by organizing painting courses for the inmates. Pål Enger stole the show! First the inmates were given an assignment to write a personal letter or poem that they were to be photographed together with. This resulted in everything from a single sentence to a whole bunch of poems. The famous art-thief, Pål Enger, was also a part of the project and naturally it was his letter that attracted the attention of the press. In the letter he described where he hid Edvard Munch’s painting ”Scream” after it had been stolen during the opening of the Olympic Games in 1994. Enger was present during the opening of the exhibition, which no doubt was the reason why the Norwegian TV news team decided to participate too! Danger of re-offending Last Friday Elisabeth Werp visited the prison with cakes and mineral waters for the inmates, to thank them for their participation. Soon she was bubbling with new ideas. It is a well-known fact that many inmates keep coming back to prison. It is also highly likely that Werp may also end up in this group! Related links: View all other portraits here. View Elisabeth Werp’s other pictures here. View NRK’s TV News coverage here. The exhibition can be viewed at Galleri Trafo in Asker, west of Oslo, until 25. October.		The photos were taken on the cell wings in front of the cell door.
		The video recording "Closing doors, hiding and re-finding keys" which was shown at the exhibition, together with the portraits.
		Pål Enger being interviewed by the news team from Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) during the opening of the exhibition.