Damien Echols Opening Reception last night
LiLiNY81
Posts: 775
For those who have followed the West Memphis Three case, I'm sure you know that Damien had many pieces of art work he created while on death row. With Kevin Wilson of Sacred Tattoo/Sacred Gallery in NYC, he decided to display and sell his pieces of art. The opening reception was last night, and I had gotten tickets a while back. First off, the art is amazing. With whatever limited resources he had in prison, Damien was able to create some phenomenal pieces.
What struck me hard was the fact that here is a guy who was sitting on death row a couple of years ago. Now, here he was at an art gallery in SoHo, displaying his art, the room filled with nothing but love and respect for him. It literally made my heart swell. For as much hate and ridicule as he suffered while on trial and in prison, there was 1000 times more support last night. He's incredibly gracious and seemed to enjoy every minute of talking with everyone and taking pictures. As I was approaching him to talk, a younger girl kind of cut me off and went up to him. I didn't really mind, I stepped back. She said to him how he has been her biggest inspiration since she was 8 years old and how amazing it was to meet him. She had tears in her eyes, she was shaking and couldn't seem to find any other words except "thank you." Damien seemed very touched and asked how old she is now, she said 18. He gave her a big hug and kissed her on the forehead. It was such a sweet moment and by the look on her face, it was the biggest thing to ever happen to her. I was glad I stepped back to let her go and got to witness that. She then turned to me and asked if I would take a picture of the two of them, to which I replied "Absolutely!"
I spoke to Damien briefly and asked for a picture. The last time I met him, the picture came out extremely blurry, so I was more than happy to finally get a decent picture (still a little blurry, but at least you can tell who's in the picture lol):
Great night with great people!
Oh and side note: Dave Navarro was there too. I was shocked to see just how tiny he is. If I were wearing heels, I would have been taller. He was just a smidge taller than me (I'm 5'3"). I decided against asking for a picture, as I felt it was inappropriate. He was there to support a friend and wasn't there for anything relating to his work. He was very nice...I'm jealous of his hair
What struck me hard was the fact that here is a guy who was sitting on death row a couple of years ago. Now, here he was at an art gallery in SoHo, displaying his art, the room filled with nothing but love and respect for him. It literally made my heart swell. For as much hate and ridicule as he suffered while on trial and in prison, there was 1000 times more support last night. He's incredibly gracious and seemed to enjoy every minute of talking with everyone and taking pictures. As I was approaching him to talk, a younger girl kind of cut me off and went up to him. I didn't really mind, I stepped back. She said to him how he has been her biggest inspiration since she was 8 years old and how amazing it was to meet him. She had tears in her eyes, she was shaking and couldn't seem to find any other words except "thank you." Damien seemed very touched and asked how old she is now, she said 18. He gave her a big hug and kissed her on the forehead. It was such a sweet moment and by the look on her face, it was the biggest thing to ever happen to her. I was glad I stepped back to let her go and got to witness that. She then turned to me and asked if I would take a picture of the two of them, to which I replied "Absolutely!"
I spoke to Damien briefly and asked for a picture. The last time I met him, the picture came out extremely blurry, so I was more than happy to finally get a decent picture (still a little blurry, but at least you can tell who's in the picture lol):
Great night with great people!
Oh and side note: Dave Navarro was there too. I was shocked to see just how tiny he is. If I were wearing heels, I would have been taller. He was just a smidge taller than me (I'm 5'3"). I decided against asking for a picture, as I felt it was inappropriate. He was there to support a friend and wasn't there for anything relating to his work. He was very nice...I'm jealous of his hair
"Now YOU listen. When we are on this ship, you are to refer to me as 'Idiot' not 'You Captain'!"
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Doesn't it make you feel even a bit better when you are witness to others joy. (the young lady who stepped in front) and of course Damiens.
Is his art shown/available on the web?
The art is available to see and there are prints for sale at sacredgallerynyc.com. I believe most of the original pieces have been sold already.
"what a long, strange trip it's been"