Study for "Political Prisoner"

The portrait, a composite representative of a type, was invented by the artist and has obvious political overtones. A tortured sense of confinement and oppression is created by the unsettling grid-like bars which appear imbedded in the head. According to Goodman the source for these bars. which create a compelling abstract, graphic impact, was based upon an actual contraption he saw on a hospital patient, whose head was in traction. While there is no single interpretation of this startling image, it is clear that the principal theme is oppression, particularly political and more broadly personal, which has victimized African Americans. Such victimization was virtually a daily news item during the 1980's both in America and South Africa.