Art Installations

Troy Richards: The Criminal Us: Anonymous Confessions Juxtaposed

Troy Richards: The Criminal Us: Anonymous Confessions Juxtaposed addresses issues of the differences/similarities between the convicted criminal and the "average citizen."

The anonymous written confessions from both groups are presented throughout the installation. Without specifically stating which confessions are those of convicted criminals and which are not, the implications of a label are removed, leaving only the acts themselves. At the end of the exhibit a table is set up with confession forms for the viewer to complete, thus adding his or her list of crimes to those on display. The exhibit will change as the number of confessions on display increase.

Mr. Richards' Artist Statement opens the exhibition:

Throughout this project when I asked people for an anonymous criminal confession, they would often immediately respond that they hadn't committed any crimes to confess. The responses changed dramatically when they were asked about specific crimes such as shoplifting, driving under the influence, or taking an illicit drug. However, even after confessing to any of these offenses people generally still did not see themselves as a criminal. At what point does a person cross the line?

Mr. Richards is a painter/sculptor living in Washington, D.C. who has had work in recent exhibitions in Philadelphia's Borowsky Gallery, at Moore College, and at the Delaware Art Museum.