The Spirit of Exoneration Captured in Artist Vik Muniz’s Powerful Portraits

‘At the end of their story, they are people who still believe in life. They were affected by their experience, but in a positive way,’ Muniz said.

Exoneree Felipe Rodriguez talks with event co-chair Mary Mattingly about a portrait of himself by artist Vik Muniz at the Innocence Project exhibition at the Sikkema Jenkins & Co. gallery in New York City on Oct. 2, 2024. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK CITY—Termaine Hicks will never forget Dec. 16, 2020. That was the day he walked free after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment.

Hicks is one of 251 people freed or exonerated from wrongful conviction through the assistance of the Innocence Project. He is also one of the first to have his likeness captured by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz as part of a collaboration series with the Innocence Project.