Thankfully, that old saying of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ couldn’t have been further from the truth in Kutmah’s case – despite his being completely unaware of this from within his cell. While he was locked away inside, the outside world created the Free Kutmah campaign. The dedication of his supporters not only paid for the entirety of his legal fees but also saw him receive the passport he crucially needed to free him from the detention centre. Perhaps it’s due to support like this that Kutmah still has a smile on his face and a relaxed air about him. It seems inexplicable, upon meeting him, that he could ever have been considered a threat. What does make sense, however, is his fundamental role in the Los Angeles-based music collective dublab and his creation of Sketchbook, a seminal club in the LA beat scene. As a DJ as well as visual artist, his inaugural show at our the Protein gallery, 18 Hewett Street, perfectly showcased both skills – combining a room full of his absorbing, intricate prints with a unique soundtrack that he mixed exclusively for the space. And in case you were wondering where the curious name of the exhibition originates, there’s a story there too… With the circumstance of his incarceration giving birth to both the method and subject of his show, its no surprise that it’s also the source of its title. The key protagonists in the story are a Mexican and a transvestite, one asking the other for the price of a little oral satisfaction. The transvestite’s answer? Well that you now know.

The energy in my direction wasn’t that nice so I just started drawing. And they were like: ‘That’s dope, draw me something!'

Created during his incarceration in a New Mexican detention centre, ‘Two Soups & A Honeybun’ is an intricate series of hand-drawn illustrations by artist Justin ‘Kutmah’ McNulty. Born in the UK to Egyptian and Scottish descent, and raised in the US, Kutmah is as international as they come. As echoed by his sojourn in federal care, which was justified by the American authorities as a matter of immigration. “When I first went into the detention centre, they didn’t understand why I was there as I sounded American. The energy in my direction wasn’t that nice so I just started drawing. And they were like: ‘That’s dope, draw me something!’ So I drew them an envelope for their girlfriend or for their wife… That’s how I got in good with the guys. I think it probably saved me from getting my ass beat.” Circumstance created the situation that saw his 39-piece collection of geometric illustrations materialize, and it likewise dictated the content and method of creation: “My usual style is very erotic, I just like drawing naked women. But that was the last thing on my mind in there, so I just messed around with the prison ID and made these shapes. It was really hard to keep the symmetry without a ruler, I had to measure by sight. I think I did pretty damn well.

Some of the pieces have some mistakes but that doesn’t bother me that much.” Kutmah’s creations take the form of Aztec inspired geometrics where the finesse of detail concentrates and reflects the tension of the situation in which he found himself in New Mexico. “Nobody knew when they would be released. The guys from Mexico came in and out everyday. But the guys like me that were being flown in had no idea. My deportation officer seemed to fuck with me saying: ‘Any day now.’ He said that every week… “Anytime the phone rang or someone came to the door, everyone would look up with the hope that they were being released. This happening everyday didn’t help the already grim mood in my cellblock of 50 men. If I was fighting my case I would still be in there.”
http://www.kutmah.com/