SHUT UP: Joe Massey's Messages from Prison

Preface by Kimberly Reyes
Introduction by Alejandra Russi

Massey (1895 – ?) was an African-American self-taught artist and poet who created a compelling body of work during his incarceration at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. As an inmate, Massey engaged in a years-long correspondence with Charles Henri Ford, the editor of the pioneering surrealist publication View, which resulted in the eventual inclusion of Massey’s art and poetry in issues of the magazine between 1943 and 1946.