About

Short Bio

Greenberg is a mixed media, conceptual artist whose work focuses on the interplay between social and political issues in American culture and the criminal justice system. From the start, her art has explored issues of injustice, beginning with a focus on gender norms and stereotypes. In 1995, she began to consider the subject of the death penalty and has been immersed in the topic of our criminal justice system ever since. Her current work on wrongful conviction and the brutality of the death penalty, pushes people out of their comfort zones, bringing viewers’ attention to an unpleasant topic, the sanctity and fragility of life and one’s own mortality. Greenberg holds a BFA from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a fellowship from the Whitney Museum’s Whitney Independent Study Program. She is a NYFA grant recipient. Greenberg’s work has been published and exhibited throughout North America and Europe.

Statement

My current work, Biography: Unwritten considers the issue of wrongful conviction with a focus on the most egregious of erroneous judgements – the death penalty. My goal is to create a book for each of the 200 people exonerated since the 1970s, when the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment after a brief moratorium. The title of each book is a name, suggesting the book is a biography. But pages are cemented shut, like the harshness of a prison cell. It is not until the epilogue where the viewer reads facts of the wrongful conviction and time on death row. A statement also appears, such as Missed having a family – derived from research into each person and suggesting missed milestones. These are the empty biographies of innocent people who were incarcerated on death row for crimes they did not commit. Viewers consider their own lives and the preciousness of milestones which become even more profound in their absence. Each book sits upon untitled books, paying homage to those wrongly convicted but who perished on death row. Viewers are encouraged to pick up a book, witness its lack of content and identify with the subject, imagining the experience of an innocence denied.

Biography

Toby Lee Greenberg is a conceptual, mixed media artist whose work focuses on the interplay between current social and political issues in American culture and the criminal justice system. From the start, Greenberg’s art has explored issues of injustice, beginning with a focus on gender norms and stereotypes. In 1995, she began to consider the subject of the death penalty and has been immersed in the topic of our criminal justice system ever since. She began working with ordinary objects, such as dinner plates and restaurant menus, to explore the history and controversary of the ritual and custom of offering a last meal of choice to someone about to be executed. A constant throughout the years, has been the incorporation of text into her art, empowering appropriated words with another layer of meaning and messaging. Her work calls into question the dissemination of public information, such as state prison records and trial transcripts, and our voyeuristic nature. Greenberg’s work on the death penalty can make people uncomfortable, leading them to consider their own feelings about this act and to consider something they would simply prefer not to think about. Her current work on wrongful conviction and the brutality of the death penalty, pushes people out of their comfort zones, bringing viewers’ attention to an unpleasant topic, the sanctity and fragility of life and one’s own mortality. Greenberg hopes her art promotes conversation and brings awareness to wrongful conviction, the death penalty, incarceration, and the criminal justice system overall. Biography: Unwritten, considers the issue of wrongful conviction with a focus on the most egregious of erroneous judgements – the death penalty. Greenberg’s goal is to create a book for each exonerated person included on the Death Penalty Information Center’s Innocence Database (200 to date). The title of each book is a person’s name, suggesting that the book is a memoir or biography. But the pages are not only empty, they are also glued and cemented shut, suggesting the harshness of a prison cell, as well as lost time for those wrongly convicted. It is not until the final page of the book when the viewer discovers some words – the facts of the person’s wrongful conviction and their time spent on death row, many for over 20 years. A simple statement, such as “Missed his dream life, living simply and working hard”, also appears here. These words have been derived from Greenberg’s in-depth research into each person and suggest a milestone or a simple moment which was lost. These are the empty biographies of innocent men and women who were incarcerated on death row for crimes they did not commit. Displayed on floating shelves, each book sits upon anonymous books, paying homage to those wrongly convicted but who perished on death row. Viewers are encouraged to pick up a book, bearing witness to its contents or lack thereof. While holding a book, viewers may consider their own lives and the preciousness of these missed moments which become even more profound in their absence.