Artwork copyright James Casebere. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright James Casebere. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright James Casebere. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Artwork copyright James Casebere. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Colleen Chartier.

Prisons, 1993

James Casebere
American (born 1953)

Location: University of Washington, Seattle

About the Artwork

Prisons by artist James Casebere is a series of six images for bus stop lightboxes. They are part of his body of work based on the history of prison design since the late 1700s. He notes, "The work addresses the formation of new types of power and subjectivity concurrent with industrialization and modernization in the 19th century. It asks us to examine behavioral norms and modes of subjectivity, thus created, as well as the institutions that enforce them." Casabere's images were temporarily installed in six lightboxes at the bus stop outside of the UW School of Art. This artwork was part of a group of rotating installations on the University of Washington campus. The artists were selected in a competitive process to create images for existing lightboxes at bus stops outside of the UW's School of Art and Meany Hall. The images were reproduced as large-scale transparencies to fit the lightboxes. The bus stops featured the artworks for several months.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with University of Washington.

About the Artist

New York City-based artist James Casebere creates photographs, film, and sculpture.
He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He studied under artist John Baldessari as a graduate student at California Institute of Arts. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree there in 1979. His artworks are represented in collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the Guggenheim Museum (both in New York City), the Tate Gallery in London, England, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany held a retrospective of his work in 2016.