The True Artist Breaks out of Jail
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'There comes a time in the life of every artist when they must decide whether they are happy in jail. They must decide whether to attain freedom and risk the life out there.'
The True Artist Breaks Out of Jail combines the fiction, essays and poetry of Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri with artworks made in collaboration with painter Rosemary Clunie. Extending the possibilities of text and image, Okri and Clunie envision a bold and fresh journey through a world in urgent need of imaginative renewal. As personal freedoms and political rights become increasingly restricted, they call on us to push past imposed limitations – both as creatives and as individuals.
Featuring thirty-two paintings, The True Artist Breaks Out of Jail speaks to the creative in all of us, highlighting the importance of art within our lives and encouraging a mindset of originality and freedom. Its narratives and images are a raw response to our times, with subjects ranging from war and climate change to authenticity and truth, to the wounds and wonders of the psyche. What emerges is a powerful collection that explores the nature of art, imagination and the human spirit.
Format: Hardback
Illustrations: 47
Publication date: 2026-09-03
Size: 21.6 x 13.8 cm
ISBN: 9780500028216
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Press Reviews
Will Gompertz
The Bookseller
Sir Ben Okri is a Booker Prize-winning novelist, as well as an acclaimed essayist, poet and playwright. His books have been translated into twenty-eight languages and he has won numerous international prizes, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Africa, the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction and the Chianti Rufino-Antico Fattore.
Rosemary Clunie is a painter, printmaker, video artist, illustrator and children’s book writer. She has exhibited widely since 1991, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2022 British Art Fair and 2024 Venice Biennale, and her paintings are held in eminent private and public collections.
Ossian Ward is Director of Content at Lisson Gallery and a writer on contemporary art. He is the author of Look Again: How to Experience the Old Masters (Thames & Hudson, 2019).