Berlin (2011-2018): Bridge over chaos (Spring 2016): ‘TO JOANN “PRETTY” PATLAN’

Unidentified Chicano inmate-artistGraphite, colored pencil, pen and ink on stamped, franked paño envelope*Approx. 24,2 x 10,5 cm (95 x 41 inches) Framed size:  34,5 x 44,5 cm*Chicano inmates use hand-decorated envelopes in color or black and white to mail letters and paños (prisoner folk art made on a handkerchief). Demand for these envelopes can provide a profitable business for a convict skilled in drawing.Please click here for a comprehensive essay on paños by Martha V. Henry.
‘TO JOANN “PRETTY” PATLAN’ , 1993

 

Unidentified Chicano inmate-artist 

Graphite, colored pencil, pen and ink on stamped, franked paño envelope* 

Approx. 24,2 x 10,5 cm (95 x 41 inches)  

Framed size: 34,5 x 44,5 cm 

*Chicano inmates use hand-decorated envelopes in color or black and white to mail letters and paños (prisoner folk art made on a handkerchief). Demand for these envelopes can provide a profitable business for a convict skilled in drawing. 

Please click here for a comprehensive essay on paños by Martha V. Henry.