Michelle Handelman’s piece Beware the Lily Law is controversial and disconcerting. Naturally, it is my favorite exhibit at Eastern State. Handelman focuses on the issues plaguing transgendered inmates in American prisons, a topic largely overlooked in today’s prison discussions. Not only does the artist delve into the problems these inmates face but she does it with refreshing empathy and little pretense. The piece is set up so the video’s very construction forces confrontation. Quite literally the viewer is face to face with issues as inmates are projected onto the rear wall of the cell. Rather than distantly observing a staged vignette, the visitor is opposite the inmates in all their transgendered unfamiliarity. Thus, the piece fosters a relationship, a connection, between the viewer and prisoner. Imbued with this new intimacy, viewers can identify with two woefully underrepresented communities – the criminally condemned and transpeople.
Beware the Lily Law does not dictate how a visitor should react or what they should think about transrights; it merely implores thought and sheds light on a largely undiscussed issue. Please come and see the exhibit for yourself this weekend (and all season) at the Artist Reception, free and open to the public from 5:30 to 7:30. More information here.
- Maggie Hayes
Tour Guide
