Artepaño/Kerchief Art
July 16 - December 14, 2024
The Artepaño/Kerchief Art exhibition features fifty artworks by Latinx artists working in the context of the American penal system. A paño is a standard fifteen by fifteen-inch cotton handkerchief transformed into a work of art by prisoners that alternatively self-identify as Chicano, Mexican-American, Latino, and/or Hispanic. The artists also self-identify alternately as inmates, convicts, and/or pintos. Artworks range from saccharine valentines to chilling threats and grand biographical narratives.The Artepaño/Kerchief Art exhibition presents a thorough sampling of the distinctive styles found in paño art. Nearing five hundred pieces, the Reno Leplat-Torti Collection is the largest assemblage of kerchief artin the world. Mr. Leplat-Torti provided the majority of works for Artepaño/Kerchief Art exhibition and is augmented by works from the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art collection and private collections.
The Artepaño/Kerchief Art exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog with illustrations of every paño featured in the exhibition with annotations by curator Dr. Álvaro Ibarra. The publication will also feature an essay by renowned artepaño expert, Victor Sorell. Dr. Sorell’s essay will explore the current state of artistic production in American penitentiaries and the future of the artepaño tradition. Additionally, the catalog will include an interview with Mr. Leplat-Torti concerning his journey as a paño collector and as an advocate for prison rehabilitation programs and prisoner rights.
Artepaño/Kerchief Art presents fifty paños from various collections and is the largest and most diverse artepaño exhibition to date. The exhibition is curated by Álvaro Ibarra, Ph.D.
Heary
Untitled, 1997
Ink on cotton
15 x 15 inches
Gift of the Kathryn C. Wanlass Foundation