|
Drawings hates blair zionism { December 5 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37068-2003Dec4.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37068-2003Dec4.html
Malvo's Unambiguous World
Prison Drawings Emphasize Power and Vengeance
By Libby Copeland
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 5, 2003; Page C01
CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- This is the ultimate outsider art, prison cell depictions of a new world order in which the powerless are made powerful and the powerful destroyed.
It is art disciplining a chaotic world through thick outlines and block text, through symmetrical drawings with hardly a hair, flower or flame out of place, in which good always triumphs over evil.
Few of Lee Boyd Malvo's more than 100 drawings, introduced into evidence by his attorneys earlier this week, depict moments of beauty or repose. Most are militaristic in tone, involving the theme of vengeance. Malvo depicts himself as brawny, his youthful arms filled out like a wrestler's, and he wears his prison jumpsuit, or stands in the woods holding a rifle with a knife belted to his thigh. Or he shows himself as a lion, master of the jungle. His pictures are centered on the page; his shadings are careful; hair and lips are neatly outlined. He does not color outside the lines.
The more pedestrian drawings look like they could have been doodled during math class by a bored high school student with above-average artistic talent. Here are Bob Marley quotes, references to the movie "The Matrix" and a quote from a classic rock song. Here is a drawing of rapper Tupac Shakur with the words "TUPAK LIVES" and "THUG LIFE." Here are action figures straight out of comic books, except one of them has on his chest the crescent moon and star symbol of Islam, the faith that Malvo acquired from convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad. Islam is the last word in many of Malvo's drawings.
In this way, pop culture mingles with faith and politics, as if it's all equivalent, as if "The Matrix" is as real and meaningful as Malcolm X (whom Malvo depicts elsewhere); as if the White House (which Malvo draws inside cross hairs) might be bested by a superhero.
The artist declares jihad over and over, and writes of black power, and criticizes whites and gays. He declares death to America, to "bushies" and to Tony Blair, to his prosecutor, Robert F. Horan Jr., to "PIG" police officers and Zionists and even to himself. ("FAILURE MEAN DEATH SO I DIE!" he scrawls over a picture that depicts a male form standing before what may be Judge Jane Marum Roush. Next to her is an arrow and this aside: "She doesn't look this good.")
Here are police helicopters and military jets and stealth fighters advancing in the sky. Here are scores of jets fighting in midair under the headline "WIII," presumably for World War III. In some pictures, the lines are blackened over and over, as if Malvo is branding them into the page.
And he labels nearly everything, perhaps because everything has a value, good or bad, and he doesn't want to leave the viewer to guess. A drawing of Moammar Gaddafi is labeled "The Liberator" in fanciful lettering, and above his head is a jet labeled "LIBYA." A picture of Saddam Hussein calls him "The Protector."
Some artists thrive on subtlety and hidden meanings; Malvo's depictions are as literal as comics. He even includes thought and speech bubbles. In one scene, he shows himself sitting in court (the student stuck in math class again), dreaming of playing basketball.
The artist's tools are limited by his circumstances. Malvo's drawings are in pen and pencil. The medium is often lined paper. In one case, a message is scrawled on some sort of official form ("Explanation of Request / List of Visiting Changes / Continuation of Request") Below, Malvo writes in cursive, "Allah's list. 1) Don't go astray. 2) Knowledge comes in all forms and shapes."
Most of all, beneath the heavy lines and declarations, beneath the predictions of triumph and revenge, there is confusion. In some places, words have been scribbled out, or additional ones inserted. Misspellings are rife. In places, the explanations are sloppy, confusing scrawls: "TUPAK CALLS THEM / PUNCH ASS POLICE / ME TOO!" Some are drawings on top of other drawings. One depicts a man holding a rifle amid a mass of messy squiggles that might be bushes. It is defaced by nine games of tick-tack-toe. Was Malvo pitted against himself? And if so, who won?
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
|
|
