LOGAN, Utah — The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University is presenting Artepaño: Chicano Prisoner Kerchief Art, the most diverse artepaño exhibition to date, featuring 71 artworks by Latino artists working in the context of the American penal system.
The exhibition highlights an artistic tradition that emerged almost 100 years ago from penitentiaries across the American Southwest.
A paño is a standard 15 by 15-inch cotton kerchief transformed into a work of art by prisoners who self-identify as Chicano, Mexican American, Latino, and/or Hispanic. The artists also identify alternately as inmates, convicts, and/or Pintos (Spanish slang for convict).
Paño art begins with the white handkerchiefs available for purchase in a prison commissary. They are subsequently designed using colored pencil, ink, and, occasionally, paint.
They feature a wide array of themes that are unified by a distinct Chicano vernacular style, iconography and symbology. Imagery ranges from depictions of the barrio, gang life, faith and allegorical depictions of prisoner life to iron bars, guard towers, clocks, sad figures, fellow prisoners, and loved ones.
Curated by Álvaro Ibarra, assistant professor of Art History at Utah State University, the majority of works in the exhibition and catalogue come from the private collection of Reno Leplat-Torti who has one of the largest collections of paño art in the world.
The presentation also includes works on loan from the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and features four works from NEHMA’s own permanent collection.
Artepaño is also defined by the vernacular style that borrows from Pinto tattoo art using Old English script and Chicano barrio stock characters as well as graffiti and mural art.
“Chicana/o/x people are the largest group of the broader Latina/o/x community in prison or on parole and probation in the U.S.,” said catalogue contributor Ben V. Olguín of UC Santa Barbara. “Many Chicana/o/x families possess paños mailed to them (in letters pre-opened by prison censors) that contain intimate expressions of love, longing, and hope, alongside myriad other sentiments, politics, and broader spiritual and metaphysical meditations.”
According to Olguín, paños represent a vast gallery of archetypes, icons, stock figures, Chicano tropes, and barrio vernacular styles that emphasize verité, or naturalistic, depictions of underclass realities, desires and visions alongside playfully figurative ones involving caricatures.
“While paños usually are meant for private consumption, they have become renowned for their artistry and range of visual narratives, which situate these artworks alongside signature barrio art forms such as graffiti, tattoos, murals, lowrider art, and older forms that include underground zines and Chicano music,” Olguín said.
Viewers are invited to consider the implications of transforming fetish objects into art objects, including the introduction of polemics concerning ownership and provenance. The exhibition also addresses the growing interest in the genre in the market and art world.
The exhibition offers viewers an educational history of artepaño as a cultural phenomenon, Ibarra said.
“To date, it remains a creative expression practiced clandestinely by Pintos across the country, with secrecy forced upon artists through draconian cuts to rehabilitation programs enacted by state legislators,” Ibarra said.
Paños can function in prison as a form of currency in the underground prison economy where. Paño art production is thus part of prisoner skill sets that are used for barter in prisons where money is outlawed.
Paños, like tattoos, letter writing, legal counsel and other professional services can be traded for other items and services. The designs may serve as intimate family communications or as memorials for those deceased. Family members may sell the paños on social media to pay legal fees or enable prisoners to purchase commissary items.
“The paño is like a second skin, a porous membrane that filters anguish and despair,” Ibarra said. “Like the Shroud of Turin, the textile bears a legible trace of personal tragedy. Unlike the indelible marks on their first skin, Pintos can address transient concerns upon these handkerchiefs.”
Prevailing Themes
Vida Loca or Crazy Life refers to the transgressive lifestyle that led to a Pinto’s incarceration. Artists frequently portray a representation of their criminal deeds.
Fanatismo or Fandom relates to sports, music, and film. Although most artists arrive with established tastes and allegiances, the penitentiary system fosters fanaticism because time can be dedicated to following their favorites.
Tirando Tiempo or Wasting Time indicates that time spent behind bars is frequently described as existing in a state of suspended animation while the rest of the world moves on.
Orgullo or Pride is essential to Pinto identity. Growing up during various phases of the Chicano movement, they learned about their noble Aztec lineage and Mexican history, referencing a romanticized pre-Columbian and revolutionary past.
Fe or Faith connotes that some find solace in their Christian faith which had been set aside while they were living la vida loca. Prison is perceived as a form of purgatory, a place to purge oneself of evil and sinfulness.
Fantasia or Fantasy relates to prisoners forced to spend so much of their time in their own heads, with isolation from family, friends, and society having damaging effects on the psyche. Manifestations include obsessive thoughts, fervent religiosity, ardent fanaticism, or, occasionally, psychedelic expressions.
Exhibition Highlights
Artist Joe “Snoopy” Calderón’s Untitled (Driftin on a memory), 2013, portrays prison as a surreal universe that destroys linear chronology. Time is simultaneously full and empty and the past and the future torment the present. On many paños, horror vacui (horror of empty spaces and, in artistic practice, an aversion to empty space in designs) manifests the artist’s experience of time and space.
H89998’s, Untitled (“Sinner”), 2017, features an empathetic Christ embracing H89998 (the California Department of Corrections assigns prisoners numbers), seemingly easing his body onto an altar. Appropriately, the dead barrio warrior is received by his Mesoamerican counterpart and antecedent, laid to rest in anticipation of the Final Judgement.
In Heary’s, Untitled, 1997, the artist jettisons the classical theater masks representing comedy and tragedy to fully embrace the hysteria of living la vida loca.
David Sandoval’s Untitled (“Mexican Pride”), c. 2000, reveals that, through the Chicano lens, those who oppress minorities in the U.S. will always mistake pride for insolence. In prison, the sheepish inmate conforms, while the prideful convict resists an extension of systemic racism.
The exhibition has been made possible through the support of The Terra Foundation for American Art. The Foundation’s support helps the museum share these important artworks and the stories and experiences of the people who created them and brings these important aspects of America’s history with incarceration to the forefront of contemporary awareness and conversation.
NEHMA Executive Director and Chief Curator Katie Lee-Koven said, “The exhibition originated when art historian and guest curator Dr. Álvaro Ibarra discovered four paños in our museum’s collection. You won’t find paños in many art museum collections, but the core of NEHMA’s collecting focus has always been to collect and exhibit art that reflects the fullest range of human and artistic experiences in the western United States. We prioritize stories and creative expression that best reflect “us” in the broadest meaning possible versus focusing on the abstract concept of “fine art” and the limitations that it imposes.”
Information on NEHMA’s Public Programs organized in conjunction with the exhibition is available here.
Publication
The Artepaño: Chicano Prisoner Kerchief Art catalogue includes illustrations of every paño featured in the exhibition with annotations by curator Álvaro Ibarra. The bilingual English/Spanish publication also features an essay by renowned scholar Ben V. Olguín, who explores the complex social and economic factors surrounding the development of the artepaño tradition.
Additionally, the catalogue includes an interview with Reno Leplat-Torti concerning his journey as a paño collector and as an advocate for prison rehabilitation programs and prisoner rights.
The Terra Foundation
The Terra Foundation fosters intercultural dialogues and encourages transformative practices to expand narratives of American art. The foundation’s grant programs, art collection, and initiatives support visual art projects engaged in reshaping how the story of American art is told.
The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting modern and contemporary visual art to promote dialogue about ideas fundamental to contemporary society. NEHMA provides meaningful engagement with art from the 20th and 21st centuries to support the educational mission of Utah State University, in Logan, Utah. NEHMA offers complementary public programs such as lectures, panels, tours, concerts, and symposia to serve the University and regional community. Admission is free and open to the public.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and by appointment. Visit artmuseum.usu.edu.
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