A Rogues' Gallery of Art on Display
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Angeles Times newspaper:
February 1, 1999
A Rogues' Gallery of Art on Display
Crime: Exhibits featuring paintings by death row inmates inspire
sympathy in
some observers, pain and anger in others.
By MARIA L. LA GANGA, Times Staff Writer
OAKLAND--When curator Laura Magnani looks at the unusual exhibit, she
sees an
eloquent argument why the artist should not be executed in California's
death
chamber eight days from today.
The serene still-lifes, the delicate penciled nude, the Masai
warrior
rendered in watercolor, are all proof to Magnani that "there's something
else
in the person that's worth saving. You can't really look at these pieces
without seeing that."
When victims' rights advocate Marc Klaas thinks about that same
exhibit--"Visions of Life: Art Out of Death Row" by Jaturun Siripongs,
who was
convicted of a double murder in Orange County--he wishes the show was
more
complete.
"If they show an exhibition of his artwork, they should also show
an
exhibition of his crime scene," Klaas said. "That would allow people to
make a
more balanced judgment."
Balanced judgment is hard to come by when considering the works of
prison
artists. From the ghoulish clown art of John Wayne Gacy to the paintings
of
"Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, this "outside art" or "raw art" often
raises
hackles, sometimes raises money for art supplies, occasionally even
raises
consciousness.
Magnani, program director for justice and youth at the American
Friends
Service Committee, is hoping for changed minds. Siripongs is scheduled
for a
clemency hearing before the Board of Prison Terms on Tuesday.
Invitations to the condemned man's exhibit show a detailed portrait
of an
Asian woman on the front--a black-and-white version of one of Siripongs'
32
works on display. On the back, the cards exhort viewers to "write now
for
clemency to Gov. Gray Davis."
"Visions of Life" went on exhibit Jan. 20 at the rambling YWCA
building in
downtown Oakland, where plans are for it to remain until the day after
Siripongs' scheduled execution.
Jaturun "Jay" Siripongs, 43, faces execution for the strangulation
death
of a food store manager and the fatal stabbing of a clerk during a 1981
robbery
in Garden Grove. The Thai native was arrested two days after the
murders, when
he tried to purchase a television with a victim's credit card.
Siripongs was scheduled to die by lethal injection Nov. 16, when a
federal
judge halted the execution to consider a claim that the former Buddhist
monk's
civil rights were violated when Gov. Pete Wilson denied clemency.
Many of those fighting against Siripongs' execution believe that he
was
present during the robbery but did not commit the murders. Prosecutors
point to
the cuts on Siripongs' hands, the dried blood in his car and the knives
and
jewelry found in his home to underscore his guilt.
According to Death Penalty Focus of California, which is fighting
Siripongs' execution, the inmate has admitted involvement in the robbery
but
contends that an accomplice killed the victims. Siripongs has refused to
identify the accomplice and none has been charged.
"In Jay's case we actually think he did not commit the crime," said
Magnani, whose organization has exhibited inmate art for decades. For
those who
have committed crimes, the art they create is "a way for people to see
the
human side of prisoners, to understand that people are not the sum total
of
their worst act."
Siripongs began drawing as a teenager in his native Thailand. But
he did
not "fully develop his artistic talents until he went to San Quentin in
1983,"
according to the biography that accompanies the show.
He is self-taught, works in his death row cell and favors realism,
the
biography says, "because it requires no interpretation and is consistent
with
his Buddhist practice of seeing and accepting people and things as they
are."
Throughout his 17 years at San Quentin, Siripongs has created more
than
600 pieces--almost all of which he has given away to friends and
attorneys. He
has worked in a variety of media, including pencil, pen and ink, oil and
chalk
pastel, acrylic, water color and origami. He buys his materials from the
prison
canteen.
These days, though, as his execution looms and his life constricts,
"he's
down to pencils now," Magnani said, as she walks visitors through the
spare
room where Siripongs' works hang.
After a crowded opening-day reception, the free exhibit has drawn a
steady
trickle of art lovers, attorneys and the simply curious who have made
the
requisite appointment to view the condemned man's work.
So far there has been no organized protest, in part because
activists in
the victims' rights movement don't want to draw even more attention to a
display they consider utterly insensitive, said Susan Fisher, state vice
chairwoman for the Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau.
"There are always going to be people out there who buy or look at
this
kind of stuff for freak value," said Fisher, who attended Siripongs'
first
clemency hearing. "But the people who feel there's enough value in this
man
that they put on an art show . . . are who I think are most appalling."
Curiosity brought Winton McKibben out last week to see Siripongs'
work. He
wanted to see how a prisoner might spend his confinement, wanted to look
for
clues to what could possibly rehabilitate someone behind bars.
Siripongs' work, said the art docent and retired superior court
judge, is
pleasant and colorful, technically well done, but "I wouldn't call it
great
art. . . . There's a lot of things he could do commercially. I'm not
advocating
that he be released, but he could benefit from others, and that's worth
saving."
Siripongs paints, said Magnani, for the same reasons all artists
work--self-expression, self-discovery, the creation of beauty. But
layered on
top of those traditional explanations are a few others. Prison is
boring. Death
row is "horrendous."
"Having this outlet, he's just lucky," she said.
Alfred Dyer, who has spent 16 years on death row for killing two
people,
likes to paint, he wrote, because it "helps me to feel free. My mind is
in
another world then, not in lockup on death row."
Dyer's work hangs, along with the work of several prisoners and at
least
one other condemned man, at Expressions, a gallery of African American
art just
off Oakland's main drag. In a 1996 letter to the gallery's owners, Dyer
wrote
that "painting is therapy for me, helping my thoughts from becoming
over-stressed."
Although there is little mystery as to why inmates paint and draw,
it can
be a bit more difficult to understand why anyone would want to own the
work of
people behind bars.
The Rev. Alan Laird, owner of Expressions gallery, said some people
become
intrigued by the artists' stories and see their purchase of prison art
as a
kind of "reaching out" to the inmates.
In the case of the world's better-known criminals, simple notoriety
is
often the explanation. Laird noted that there is a small core of
collectors who
buy what he dubs "executed art."
"Once the prisoner is executed, the art will go up to maybe 10
times the
value," said Laird, who sells most artworks by prisoners for $300 to
$400.
Then there's Joe Roth, who spent $20,000 at a 1994 auction to buy
more
than two dozen artworks by executed serial killer Gacy--so he could burn
them.
"We wanted them wiped off the map," he said at the time.
Defense attorney Kendall Goh owns half a dozen of Siripongs' works,
some
on display in the Oakland exhibit. She contends that the people who own
his
works are not among the ghoulish or revenge-seeking.
They know the man. They care about him. As a result, none of the
pieces
currently on display are for sale.
"His works are gifts of love," said Goh. "He gives them to people
he cares
about. For the most part these are gifts from the heart."
-------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
Clemency Hearing Today For Double Murderer
Lawyers For Jaturun Siripongs Make Case For Calling Off His Scheduled
Execution
Feb. 9
SAN FRANCISCO, February 2, 1999 -- Convicted double murderer Jaturun
Siripongs,
scheduled to be executed Feb. 9, faced a clemency hearing today after
encountering prosecution resistance to an attempt to reopen his case.
Siripongs was denied clemency by Gov. Pete Wilson, but was kept alive by
a
federal judge's decision that defense lawyers may have been misled about
the
grounds for clemency. They have renewed their request to Gov. Gray
Davis, who
will receive a recommendation after today's hearing of the state Board
of
Prison Terms.
On Monday, a state lawyer asked the California Supreme Court to reject
Siripongs' bid to block the execution, and disputed a defense claim that
prosecutors had concealed their knowledge of Siripongs' accomplice.
Prosecutors have consistently expressed suspicion that the sister of
Siripongs'
girlfriend was involved in a 1981 robbery and double murder, but have
never
said they knew she or anyone besides Siripongs committed the crimes,
Deputy
Attorney General Laura Hallgren said in court papers.
She said the latest appeal, filed last Thursday, was made "for the
purpose of
defeating, embarrassing, and most particularly delaying justice."
Siripongs, 43, was convicted of robbing a Garden Grove market where he
had
worked part-time, strangling the manager, Packovan "Pat" Wattanaporn,
and
fatally stabbing store employee Quach Nguyen. He has admitted taking
part in
the December 1981 robbery but insisted an accomplice, whom he would not
identify, committed the murders.
In Thursday's appeal, defense lawyers identified the alleged accomplice
as
Netnara "Noon" Vecharungsri, the 17-year-old sister of Siripongs'
girlfriend,
and a prosecution witness at his 1983 trial. Her bloodstained jacket was
found
in a Dumpster and a letter to her was found beneath one victim's body,
circumstances she explained by saying she had left the jacket at
Siripongs'
apartment.
In fact, defense lawyers said in court papers, Vecharungsri committed
both
murders, and Siripongs, who had been stationed as a lookout, was stabbed
in the
hands when he tried to stop her.
Attorney Michael Laurence said the information didn't come from
Siripongs, who
is remaining silent out of fear for the safety of his family in his
native
Thailand. Laurence said Vecharungsri is also in Thailand.
The new appeal said prosecutors presented Vecharungsri as an innocent
witness
while concealing knowledge of her role that would have persuaded the
jury to
spare Siripongs' life.
Defense lawyers said they first learned of prosecutors' knowledge last
fall,
when Deputy District Attorney James Tanizaki told a reporter "there was
a
strong suspicion that Siripongs had a female companion nicknamed Noon."
The trial prosecutor, Edgar Freeman, told another reporter, "I believe
the
evidence shows there was a second person."
After those disclosures, newly hired defense experts criticized the
failure of
the sheriff's crime laboratory to analyze blood and hair found at the
scene
that belonged to neither Siripongs nor the victims, Laurence said. He
said the
court should order new testing of that evidence, which has never been
made
available to the defense.
But Hallgren, the state's lawyer, said a prosecutor told the trial judge
in
open court that Vecharungsri and her sister knew more than they were
telling,
and the judge agreed.
"This conclusion was obvious to all" in light of the evidence about her
jacket
and her testimony about phone calls from Siripongs, Hallgren said.
She also cited a Garden Grove detective's statement in a 1983 report to
the
trial judge that Siripongs "probably had an accomplice," and Freeman's
statement at a December 1995 federal court hearing that he suspected
someone
else was involved but "we had no evidence of it."
The prosecutors' recent comments to reporters are consistent with their
past
statements and do not show any concealed knowledge justifying a new
appeal,
Hallgren said. She said the prosecution cannot be faulted "for not
sharing its
unprovable hunches with defense counsel."
"Siripongs' repetitive assertions that he was not the real killer have
been
closely examined over the years by many courts," the state lawyer said.
"Each
time the conclusion has been the same -- the evidence of his guilt as
the
killer is overwhelming."