Nicole R. Fleetwood has been recognized with the National Book Critics Circle Award in the Criticism category for her book “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” The award ceremony took place virtually on March 26, where J. Howard Rosier, chair of the Criticism committee, announced Fleetwood as the recipient.
Rosier praised Fleetwood’s work for its innovative approach in understanding how incarcerated individuals engage in art creation and categorizing their artistic processes.
“Fleetwood is being honored for her profoundly revisionist work which identifies the conditions under which incarcerated persons create art while taxonomizing its making,” Rosier stated.
“Marking Time” is lauded for its insightful examination of carceral aesthetics, offering a critical perspective on the penal system and emphasizing human resilience amidst confinement. Fleetwood’s book redefines contemporary discourses on art history and institutional reform, shedding light on the experiences of art makers who are held in custody against their will.
Marking Time “is a blistering critique of the penal system and ultimately a testament to human flourishing in spite of it. Thoughtful and ambitious, Fleetwood never loses sight of visibility and humanization as her goals.”
— J. Howard Rosier, NBCC
Highlighting the surge in incarceration rates since the 1970s, Fleetwood addresses the disproportionate representation of Black individuals in the U.S. prison system. Her work focuses on incarcerated artists, exploring how prison life influences their creativity, families, and broader societal issues such as racial injustice and political activism.
Throughout “Marking Time,” Fleetwood examines the compulsion to create art in oppressive conditions, underscoring the importance of artistic expression and the societal implications of punitive confinement.
As a curator, author, and professor at Rutgers University, Fleetwood expressed her surprise and gratitude upon receiving the award. She dedicated over a decade to working on “Marking Time,” which also included an exhibition at MoMA PS1 and collaborations with the Aperture Foundation.
“There are lessons here, developed by the punished and imprisoned, about how to create, forge relations, and to embody and represent one’s life under unimaginable conditions. From these lessons we learn about a society that relies on punitive confinement as a solution to myriad social, economic, political, ecological, and health crises. Prisons—indefinite detention, parole, concentration camps—exist inasmuch as we allow them to. ”
A continuous project by Mark Loughney showcases “Pyrrhic Defeat: A Visual Study of Mass Incarceration” as the cover of “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” by Nicole R. Fleetwood (Harvard University Press, 352 pages). This work consists of over 500 individual graphite on paper portraits depicting people incarcerated with Loughney in a Pennsylvania prison. Fleetwood explains that the artwork portrays the collective impact of mass incarceration and evolves as Loughney uses penal time.
THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE is a group of book critics that aims to recognize outstanding writing and stimulate a national dialogue about reading, criticism, and literature. Each year, NBCC presents awards for literature published in the United States in various categories, including autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. These accolades are the sole national literary awards chosen by book critics.
At the beginning of the year, on Jan. 24, the finalists for books published in 2020 were revealed. Fleetwood triumphed over four other contenders in the Criticism category: Vivian Gornick’s “Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Cristina Rivera Garza’s “Grieving: Dispatches from a Wounded Country” (Feminist Press); Namwali Serpell’s “Stranger Faces” (Transit); and Wendy A. Woloson’s “Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America” (University of Chicago Press).
“In a year filled with so much to dispute, the committee and I were impressed by the abundance of sharp and unconventional perspectives in the category,” Rosier mentioned.
“Marking Time” has received widespread acclaim. The book was featured in Culture Type’s Year in Black Art 2020, named a Smithsonian Book of the Year, honored as a New York Times Best Art Book of the Year and an Art Newspaper Book of the Year, and recognized by the New York Review of Books as a “Best of 2020” Selection. Fleetwood also received two awards from the College Art Association for the book.
“Throughout this book, I emphasize the urge to create, produce, and imbue significance within harsh and restrictive conditions under the broader scope of the carceral state.” — Nicole R. Fleetwood
Upon receiving the National Book Critics Circle Award, Fleetwood expressed gratitude to Rosier for “acknowledging all the artists, activists, and family members affected by the carceral state, the 100 million individuals who have been in prison or love someone incarcerated.” She also thanked Black feminist scholars, activists, and abolitionists.
“I wouldn’t be standing here without my family… the Fleetwoods, my cousins Allen, De’Andre, and Eric, who all spent time in prison as youths and entrusted me to share their experiences and stories. Also, my Aunt Sharon, who is my role model, my cousin Cassandra, who is very dear to me, and witnessing their support for my cousin Allen during his time in prison inspired me to pursue this project,” Fleetwood shared.
“Most importantly, all the artists, both former and current inmates, some battling COVID even now, those still incarcerated, those in solitary confinement, some who didn’t make it. Ronnie Goodman, who passed away in August 2020 on the streets of San Francisco. Billy Sell, who lost his life during a hunger strike. To all the artists who conveyed their suffering, stories, art, and visions of transformative justice, healing, and love. And to a world free from human confinement and captivity. To liberty and acknowledgment. To a cherished community. Thank you very much.” CT
FIND OUT MORE about Nicole Fleetwood and her Marking Time project on her website
WATCH MORE The virtual National Book Critics Circle Award ceremony is engaging throughout and features the Criticism category and Nicole Fleetwood (she does a brief reading at 34:28-36:03 and receives the award at 2:11:52)
BOOKS TO EXPLORE
Apart from “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” Nicole R. Fleetwood is the author of “Troubling Vision: Performance, Visuality, and Blackness” and “On Racial Icons: Blackness and the Public Imagination.” She has contributed to exhibition catalogs, including “Gordon Parks: The Atmosphere of Crime, 1957,” “Walls Turned Sideways: Artists Confront the Justice System,” “Mickalene Thomas: I Can’t See You Without Me,” and “Taryn Simon: The Innocents” (upcoming in September 2021). With a focus on photography, Fleetwood curated the Prison Nation edition of Aperture magazine (Spring 2018) and the accompanying exhibition.
