Innovative 'railings' street art Making the Invisible Visible in the Troy Davis death penalty case

German street art collective Mentalgassi have collaborated with Brothers and Sisters creative team Lisa Jelliffe and Kirsten Rutherford to create a series of unique art installations for Amnesty International.

“Making the invisible visible” uses lenticular fence posters in three sites across central London to highlight the case of Troy Anthony Davis, a 42-year-old man on death row in the US state of Georgia.

Davis, the subject of a long-running campaign from Amnesty, has spent 19 years on death row for a murder he has always said he did not commit. No physical evidence links Davis to the crime and seven out of nine witnesses on whose evidence he was convicted in 1991 have since changed or retracted their testimony, with some citing police coercion. Despite these serious doubts, he still faces execution.

The art installation depicts a close up of Troy Davis’ face, which is only visible to those approaching the fence. Front on, the image becomes invisible. A plaque on each site alerts passers-by to an Amnesty website ( www.amnesty.org.uk/fence ) where they can sign a petition calling for justice for Davis.

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Creatives Kirsten Rutherford and Lisa Jelliffe said:

“Mentalgassi’s images are unexpected, arresting and emotive. Their surprising use of faces on fence railings reminded us of prison bars which seemed like a unique way to highlight Amnesty’s work.”

Head of Art at Amnesty International UK Jo Metcalf said:

“This is an amazing and strikingly new way of taking the Amnesty message out into the streets. We’ve already had a massive response on Troy Davis' case and this project is set to boost that still further.”

Mentalgassi are a collective of three artists from Berlin. Their distinctive photographic street art is seen throughout Europe, with their work being included in Miami’s Art Basel Fair, Bilbao’s Getxo festival and Serbia’s Exit Festival. Their work can be seen at www.mentalgassi.de or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mentalgassi/194987001606

The Troy Davis art installations can be seen in three central London locations: 4-7 Great Pulteney Street, 21 Great Pulteney Street, and 5 Berners Street (all London W1).