The Fortune Society Partners With Malin Gallery and Russell Craig To Present A Night Of Poetry Reading

The Fortune Society (Fortune), one of the nation's leading nonprofit reentry and advocacy organizations, will partner with Malin Gallery and Brooklyn-based visual artist Russell Craig to celebrate National Poetry Month with an evening of poetry readings on Wednesday, April 27. Justice-involved New Yorkers from Fortune's creative parts program will read their original poems, surrounded by Dark Reflections, Craig's exhibition of large paintings characterized by allegorical allusions to his experiences spending twelve years incarcerated in the juvenile and the adult criminal justice systems. Media members who wish to attend and cover the event or exhibition can contact Jamaal Fisher at jamaal@anatgerstein.com or (347) 545-2198 to RSVP.

WHAT: The Fortune Society's Poetry Reading at Malin Gallery

WHEN: Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

WHERE: Malin Gallery, 515 West 29TH Street, New York, NY; please contact Jamaal Fisher at jamaal@anatgerstein.com or (347) 545-2198 to RSVP

WHO: Russell Craig, Brooklyn-based visual artist; creator of Dark Reflections exhibition

Jamie Maleszka, Director of Creative Arts at Fortune Society

Fortune Society participants who share their works at the poetry reading

ON-SITE MEDIA CONTACT: Jamie Maleszka, (347) 510-3668, jmaleszka@fortunesocitey.org

The event reflects The Fortune Society's belief in the healing and transformative powers of imagination and creativity.a??

Craig's Dark Reflections is on view at the Malin Gallery through May 22. The show consists of twelve large scale paintings rendered on fragments of leather handbags that the artist has sewn together, along with three self-portraits on wood panel. The Dark Reflections works employ an eclectic mixture of visual references rooted in art historical and pop culture genres, including rap music, comics and science fiction, yet the paintings all feature a latent autobiographical quality with implicit narratives built around Craig's life experiences. Craig employs visual idioms rooted in cinema and mass advertising to create dynamic narratives characterized by alternating moods of frenetic action and still contemplation. Although the overt subject matter varies, the Dark Reflections works are uniformly characterized by allegorical allusions to Craig's experiences spending twelve years incarcerated in the juvenile and the adult criminal justice systems. While many of the works are intensely personal, they also wield implicit but vigorous critique regarding the system of mass incarceration in America. For more information on Dark Reflections, visit https://www.malingallery.com/exhibitions/russell-craig.

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