Art from the Inside: PaÑo Drawings
by Chicano Prisoners
June 17 - September 3, 2005
Opening reception Friday, June 17 from 5 - 8 pm
press release
images from this show
"Virgin of Guadalupe with Moon and Stars"
Artist Unknown
Black ink on white cotton handkerchief
15 1/2" x 15"
Undated
Lecture and gallery discussion by Dr. Victor Sorell on June 23, 6 -
8 pm 2005
Click
here to listen to an audio clip of Dr. Sorell at Intuit discussing
the paño art. (originally broadcast on Chicago
Public Radio , 6.23.05)
Shown with the exhibit: Video: Paño Arte: Images
From Inside
©About Time Productions, 1996
Running time: 31 min.
Press release:
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art will present the touring
exhibition Art from the Inside: Drawings by Chicano Prisoners from June 17
through September 3, 2005 at Intuit, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Gallery
hours are noon to 5 p.m., Wed.-Sat.; admission is free. Martha V. Henry, Director
of Traveling Exhibitions for the New England Center for Contemporary Art, organized
this exhibition.
A rt from the Inside features 121 drawings on handkerchiefs. Known as
paños , these pocket-sized canvases depict boldly drawn montages
composed of Pre-Columbian symbols, colonial religious icons, Mexican
historical figures and images from 20th century popular culture. Paños
serve as pictorial letters which carry messages from inmates to family
and loved ones on the outside and to friends and associates within the
prison system. Paño artists draw upon a rich vocabulary derived
from the "high" and "low" art forms of Mexico and the United States.
Aztec warriors, the Virgin of Guadalupe and Pancho Villa, tattooed gang
members, pin-up girls, vintage low-rider cars and trucks, clowns, teddy
bears, and cartoon characters provide inspiration for the drawings. Although
the origin of paño drawing is unknown, it is thought that the
tradition emerged from the jails and prisons in Texas, New Mexico, and
California during the 1940s.
An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, June 17, 2005, 5-8 pm,
at Intuit. Dr. Victor Sorell will present a lecture and gallery talk,
Illuminated Handkerchiefs, Tattooed Bodies, and Prison Scribes: Meditations
on the Aesthetic, Religious and Social Sensibilities of Chicano Pintos
, on Thursday, June 23rd from 6 - 8 pm. Dr. Sorell is Associate Dean
of the College of Arts & Sciences at Chicago State University.
Images from the show
Leonard Peña
Four Camarades, c. 1996 (detail)
Black ink on white handkerchief
14 5/8" x 15 1/8"
|
Leonard Peña
Beat Down, 1996 (detail)
Black ink on white handkerchief
14 1/2" x 15"
Collection of Thomas Isenberg |
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