Saturated colors illuminate an older man with a long white beard wearing a turban, his eyes closed in meditation. The man’s head floats on a dark blue background, giving the pastel drawing a surreal quality. After comedian Richard Pryor performed at Lorton Reformatory, a corrections facility near Washington, DC, an inmate named Pleasant Burke presented this artwork to Pryor, telling the celebrity, “we wish we had more, but we give you our love, and this is a token of it.” Pryor subsequently donated the work to the museum. The peaceful image challenges stereotypical assumptions about corrections facilities, promoting a more nuanced understanding of men like Burke residing at Lorton.
