Mr. Fergus McCaffrey

Fergus McCaffrey surveys the New York minefield.

What makes an artist collectable?
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Fergus McCaffrey works at Gagosian Gallery, New York.

Maguire would not have found the prison or negotiated with state authorities to work there if it had not been for fellow Irishman and curator Fergus McCaffrey.
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McCaffrey became aware of the prisoners because the art handlers and restorers working for the galleries "were getting whistled at by the girls" and his interest was piqued.

"How many people in this community, this art world, are aware that there is a women's prison here and is there any way for the prisoners and the art world to interact?"McCaffrey asked himself.

He called on Maguire, who had represented Ireland at the 1998 Sao Paolo Biennial, presenting paintings from his workshops in Brazil's biggest prison, Carandiru.

In October 1992 a riot at Carandiru turned into a massacre as military police were called in and 111 prisoners were killed.The prison was closed two months ago.

by Fergus McCaffrey
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Fergus McCaffrey is a freelance writer and curator based in New York

Curated by Fergus McCaffrey
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Organized by the curator Fergus McCaffrey, The Bayview Project is a collaboration between the Irish artist Brian Maguire and thirteen women prisoners over a seventeen-month period at the Bayview Correctional Facility in the Chelsea district of New York City.
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Like many of Chelsea s new arrivals, Mr. McCaffrey had discovered the women by chance while working in a nearby warehouse.
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But Fergus McCaffrey, an independent curator at the Gagosian Gallery on West 24th Street, heard stories about women in Bayside whistling at men working at an art storage space across the street.
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Whistling from windows Maguire would not have found the prison or negotiated with state authorities to work there if it had not been for fellow Irishman and curator Fergus McCaffrey. McCaffrey became aware of the prisoners because the art handlers and restorers working for the galleries "were getting whistled at by the girls" and his interest was piqued. "How many people in this community, this art world, are aware that there is a women's prison here and is there any way for the prisoners and the art world to interact? McCaffrey asked himself.