Exhibit Focuses on Political Prisoners
An art exhibition titled “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” that focuses on what the artist describes as “political prisoners and internal exile” has opened in Watts.
Riga 97, who was born in the Maderia Islands of Portugal and who changes his last name every 12 months to match the calendar year, is displaying a variety of arts forms at the exhibition hall of the Watts Labor Community Action Center.
The centerpiece of the show is a 7-foot by 7-foot portrait of Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt, the former Black Panther who was recently freed on bail after his conviction for murder was reversed. The portrait of Pratt was made with more then 28,000 pushpins.
The exhibit, which opened Saturday, will run for three months at the Watts center at 10950 S. Central Ave.
The show also features an interactive Web site to access other prisoners whom Riga 97 contends are held because of their political beliefs.
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