Urban explorer photographer Isaac Wright is known for jumping fences and scrambling up skyscrapers to take breathtaking, high-altitude images. But the photo that made the biggest splash from the opening night of his comeback solo show in May showed him being bundled into a police car by four NYPD cops.
They had stormed Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea and frogmarched him away in front of 400 shocked gallerygoers.
The next day, a police spokesperson confirmed that Wright, a former paratrooper known professionally as “Drift,” had been charged with criminal trespassing in the third degree, which is a class B misdemeanor under New York State law. They also said he was no longer in custody.
However, Wright told ARTnews that those charges will be dropped on Wednesday after he completed five months of court-ordered therapy to avoid further prosecution.
“I am very thankful to the court and NYPD for how the situation was handled and to all those who supported my opening in New York City and beyond,” he said. “I feel an immense amount of gratitude for the respect that was shown for my personhood and artistry throughout the process, and thankful that what I’ve aimed to create universally has overshadowed any threat that may have been perceived. This work has been and always will be an endeavor of love that aims to unite us all.”
Robert Mann, the owner the eponymous gallery, told ARTnews: “I’m delighted with the outcome of Isaac’s case and encouraged by how many buildings are now inviting him to photograph from their structures.”
Wright’s exhibition, titled “Coming Home,” was his first-ever solo gallery show in New York City. It marked his return to the art world after he was locked up for four months in December 2020 for illegally climbing three structures in Cincinnati. The police searched several states and shut down a highway to catch him. “The show ended up selling really well, despite what happened,” he said.
The photographer previously told ARTnews that his work helps him cope with mental health issues: “I was diagnosed with Bipolar I in 2023. I was also struggling with PTSD, depression, and mania after coming out of the army. It got a lot worse after what I went through with the police in Arizona, when they shut down the highway to arrest me. That was such a traumatic experience. I started experiencing memory loss. I started experiencing fluctuating moods. I’m someone that feels things violently and intensely. Photography is like catharsis. When I’m actively out creating something, it completely switches my brain off. That’s the best thing.”
Wright’s “Coming Home” is currently showing in Las Vegas at Freyboy Art Salon, who partnered with Robert Mann Gallery. It runs until October 25.
