Charles Bronson has spoken of his ‘empty and lonely existence’ behind bars for an art exhibition featuring 50 of his creations.
The notorious prisoner invited visitors to ‘step into the cell’ in a message recorded for the show in aid of a charity which he co-founded.
He gave a bleak picture of his time doing ‘porridge’, which he is attempting to escape through a ninth parole bid due in October.
In the message, Bronson says: ‘Welcome to my world.
‘A world of confusion, control, security, madness, soul-searching, violence, criminality and a very, very empty and lonely existence.
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‘Welcome to my art, my life, my true self.
‘The man who rarely gets a chance to show off his true creations.
‘Well, it is what comes out of 50 years of porridge.
‘Art from the darkest place on Earth, art that frees my demons, art that screams out “enough is enough”.’
Bronson has spent 51 years in prison after first being jailed for armed robbery, before having his term repeatedly extended for attacks on prison staff and inmates.
He was given a discretionary life term with a minimum of four years after taking a prison education worker hostage for 44 hours at HMP Hull in 1999. He has taken 10 other people hostage.
But the art show’s organisers, mother-and-daughter team Vanessa and Maisie Mcneice, arranged the exhibition in London to show the world through his eyes.
Maisie, whose family connections to Bronson stem from Luton where he used to live, has become friends with the inmate and is campaigning for his release.
‘I think he deserves a chance which no one has given him for so long,’ she said.
More than 500 people turned up at the Karma Sanctum Soho Hotel, where 50 of the prisoner’s creations were on show.
Entry was free with proceeds from sales of art and merchandise going to Born For Art, which Bronson co-founded.
‘My art is my feelings, my sanity, my emotions, my passion,’ Bronson says.
‘My fight for survival, it’s an anthology of my journey through the penal system. I despise prison, always have, always will.’
Bronson, born Michael Gordon Peterson, says that at one time he was ‘the No1 prison activist’.
‘My life was fighting for prisoners’ rights,’ he says.
‘Exposing their inhumanities, their barbaric treatment, and it’s cost me my life, my freedom.
‘Fifty years is no joke, believe me, but it’s also made me an artist.
‘I found my gift of life, my art now speaks for me.’
The 72-year-old, who has changed his name to Salvador after one of his favourite artists, Salvador Dali, describes his work as a chance for people to enter his hellish world.
He has produced hundreds of cartoon-style creations over the years, which are generally dark and disturbing takes on prison life laced with humour.
Some of his work has sold for tens of thousands of pounds.
In the message to visitors, Bronson says: ‘Please enjoy and if you buy one, treat it with respect please, as it’s a big part of me.
‘I may never walk under these stars again. Some say I’ll die in hell. I say what will be will be, at least my art is free and lives on for me.’
Bronson says that ‘my art is my therapy, my saviour, my hope, my dreams’, and it has been getting deeper and more detailed over the years.
He also describes his work as getting ‘more desperate, more insane’.
Bronson signs off: ‘Step inside the cell, make yourself at home.
‘Now you’re in hell but you’re lucky, you can walk out. I can’t.
‘My respect to everyone, adios amigos. Charlie. Who else?’
Bronson, who is being held at HMP Woodhill in Buckinghamshire, is preparing for a ninth parole hearing in October.
He is one of the UK’s longest-serving prisoners.
In September 2024, he told Metro that ‘my soul is good’ and ‘I’ve got no regrets’ as he made the case for his release.
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