"Artists aren't strangers to creative constraints. Perhaps they work full-time and have to sneak in just an hour of painting before bed. Or a grant requires that they follow a particular set of guidelines that push their practice in a new direction. Whatever the situation, artists are often uniquely positioned to find innovative, experimental approaches to making. For those included in Between the Lines: Prison Art and Advocacy, which was on view this past month at the Museum of International Folk Art, constraints are plentiful."
"A primary thread in the exhibition-which tends to connect most artworks made during a period of incarceration-is an innovative use of materials. John Paul Granillo, for example, renders blue pen portraits on a pair of canvas prison-issue shoes. Other drawings appear on envelopes sent to the Coalition For Prisoners' Rights, a nonprofit project that mailed newsletters inside for several decades."
Between the Lines: Prison Art and Advocacy was on view this past month at the Museum of International Folk Art and featured an eclectic array of works by incarcerated artists. Constraints of confinement prompted innovative uses of materials, including blue pen portraits drawn on canvas prison-issue shoes and drawings on envelopes mailed to the Coalition For Prisoners' Rights. The show included paños—fabric art made from commissary handkerchiefs, pillowcases, and bedsheets originating with incarcerated Chicanos—used to communicate, bypass censorship, and generate income. The installation connected carceral systems globally, including a beaded Anatolian protective amulet inscribed Masallah acquired in Istanbul.
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