An exhibition showcasing artworks created by inmates of High Desert State Prison, Susanville, CA. September 11 – October 11, 2019 The Holland Project 140 Vesta Street Reno, Nevada 89502
2
BEND IN THE RIVER Contents 5 Exhibition Statement by Joannie G. 7
I’m Breaking these Chains by Lawrence “Lyrical Larry” Madera
8
Aaron Arroyo
9
Francisco Bautista
10
Luis F. Diofron
12
Robert Juan Enriquez
14
Gary Friley
16
Israel Garcia
18
Raymond Martinez
20
Matt Murray
30
Edward Che Renshaw
34
Fred Rodriguez
42
Raymond “Butch” Tafolla
44
Phillip Ulloa
46
Cesar Villa
48
Richard Wyatt
50
“Art rarely has the agency that it does in prison...” by Shaun T. Griffin
53
Twenty to Life by Sabin Barendt
54
Out of Touch by John Neff
56
Graves by William J. Connors
58 Colophon
The purpose of this exhibit is to build a bridge over the wide expanse of misconception that many in the free world have about inmates as a whole. Depicting our humanity through art is a great way to show the world that we are not our mistake. – Inmate EE, May 2019
4
Bend in the River is an exhibit featuring inmate art from a
high security prison. These artists have had little or no formal art education. Most have never taken an art class. The French painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet was the first to name art created outside the boundaries of official culture as “raw or rough art” and Art Critic Roger Cardinal gave it the term “outsider art”. What you are seeing today is art made by “outsider artists on the inside.” Many of them will spend the rest of their lives “inside”. These artists have very limited access to art supplies. Their work is often considered contraband, and the art and materials used to make it are destroyed if found. Nevertheless, their human need to communicate can overcome these boundaries, and the resulting art is powerful and provocative. This is your opportunity, as an “outside” audience, to view and experience the care and determination with which they teach themselves technique, devise their own art tools, and share their discoveries and dreams. Bend in the River is an attempt to connect, to experience through art that which makes us all human. In the words of one of the artists featured here, “I hope that this exhibit will help build a bridge over the wide expanse of misconceptions formed on the ‘outside’ about inmates as a whole. Depicting our humanity through our art is a way to show the world that we are not our mistake.” – Joannie G., Exhibition Organizer
6
I’m Breaking These Chains What is this life, what is this life! What is this life that constantly haunts me, this feeling inside that constantly taunts me. I know what is right and I try to be strong, I cry in the night screaming darkness be gone, and try as I might as I try to move on, I find myself constantly doing the wrong. What is this life, what is this life! What is this life I can’t seem to escape this constant feeling of anger and hate, the wanting the good by doing the bad, the longing for happy while living the sad, the more that I try the more I go mad, it’s a constant reminder of a peace I’ve never had. What is this life, what is this life (YEAH) what is this life!!! What is this life that holds me steadfast that has me repeating the woes of my past, why can’t I use all my hurt and my pain to walk in the sunshine instead of the rain, I see it in sight but it’s just out of aim, I know that it’s there but it’s just out of range, I want to do better but I just cannot change. But today, yes today I’m breaking these CHAINS!!! by Lawrence “Lyrical Larry” Madera, High Desert State Prison August 22, 2019
Aaron Arroyo Lil’ Gangsta Ink on cotton, 10.5 x 5.5’’ 8
Francisco Bautista I took some pictures of art and started blending it together. I have been making art for around 18 years. I am inspired by the creation of God and how He made the moon and stars, and also seeing other art work.
Francisco Bautista Untitled Ink on handkerchief, 15.5 x 15.5’’, 2019
Luis F. Diofron I am self-taught and making art for two years. My inspiration varies depending on how I am feeling at the moment. What I make depends on my feelings. Right now I have no materials that I would like, for instance good pencils or pens, and I would like to learn to paint, but I have no pictures that I would like to paint from.
Luis F. Diofron Family Ink on handkerchief, 15.5 x 15.5’’ 10
Luis F. Diofron Parrot Graphite on paper, 12 x 9’’
Robert Juan Enriquez My inspiration is my son Kaleb that got adopted because of my incarceration. And so I learned to draw with my son as I miss him so much. This was my first portrait.
Robert Juan Enriquez Kaleb Graphite on paper, 10.5 x 8.25’’ 12
Robert Juan Enriquez Tree of Life Graphite on paper, 14 x 11�
Gary Friley I have been making art since I was 9 years old. I am self-taught and I make art to get out of a place where there is only negativity. I would like to use mechanical pencils, pastels, oil paints and oil pastels. I use mainly graphite pencil.
14
Gary Friley Swaddled Baby Graphite on paper, 12 x 9’’
Israel Garcia Art off the Tier #2 Graphite on paper, 9 x 6’’ 16
Israel Garcia Art off the Tier #3 Graphite on paper, 12 x 9’’
Raymond Martinez Young Jaguar (Unfinished) Graphite and ink on paper, 12 x 9’’ 18
Raymond Martinez Hummingbird Colored pencil and pen on paper, 12 x 9’’
Matt Murray I am self-taught and I started making art in elementary school but began to put serious effort into it five years ago as an adult. I like to see what others don’t, see what I see and draw it, and see how it represents someone, something positive in the world. I admire the art of my brothers Santino “Rooster” Moreno, Peezee Fresh, R•I•P, Inkaholic.
Matt Murray From a Nurse’s View Colored pencil on paper, 9 x 12’’, 2019 20
Matt Murray Untitled Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5’’, 2016
Matt Murray Untitled Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5’’, 2018 22
Matt Murray Untitled Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5’’, 2018
Matt Murray Untitled Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5’’, 2019 24
Matt Murray Piece of My Life Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5’’, 2019
Matt Murray Untitled Paint on paper, 12 x 9’’ 26
Matt Murray Out of the Sun and off the Wall #7 Colored pencil on paper, 14 x 11’’
Matt Murray Off the Wall Colored pencil on paper, 12 x 9’’ 28
Matt Murray Off the Wall #6 Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 14’’
Edward Che Renshaw I am self-taught and have been making art for about ten years. I am inspired by the beauty I find all around me. Bob Tyrrell is an artist I admire.
30
Edward Che Renshaw Owl Watercolor on sheet, 25 x 21’’
Edward Che Renshaw Uncle Mixed Media on paper, 9’’x12’’ 32
Edward Che Renshaw in collaboration with Cesar Villa Crowned Mixed media on paper, 2 Pieces 15 x 12’’
Fred Rodriguez I am self-taught. I began making things out of rice krispies and then made decks of cards from milk cartons. I started using leftover bread dough and it was admired so I kept doing it. I have been making art for two years. I admire sculptors and I make objects from my imagination. Once I start the work forms itself. For these pieces I used bread, hand lotion, soap, toilet paper, peach pit and coffee. I would like to have modeling clay.
34
Fred Rodriguez Chief
Fred Rodriguez Photo Cube Folded discarded wrappers 36
Fred Rodriguez Heart-shaped Jewelry Box Folded discarded wrappers
Fred Rodriguez Gargoyle 38
Fred Rodriguez Jeremiah the Bullfrog
Fred Rodriguez Peach Pit Turtle
Fred Rodriguez Owl 40
Fred Rodriguez Help
Raymond “Butch� Tafolla I have been making art for a couple of years and I was looking at a history artwork that inspired me to work on this particular piece. I have been working on art for about ten years and looking at things, such as photographs, and stuff like that helps me in putting my ideas together. I admire the work of Frida Kahlo. I would like to have more of the basic art materials and to experiment with some water-based/ oil-based colors.
42
Raymond “Butch” Tafolla Mexican Beauty Ballpoint pen on paper, 12 x 9’’
Phillip Ulloa I am a self-taught artist and have been making art since I was five. My mom entered me in a sidewalk chalk contest every Easter. I like Banksy, OG Abel, and Craola (Greg Simkins) an urban artist. I am inspired to make art by whatever I am feeling at the moment emotionally. Canvases would be great to have.
44
Phillip Ulloa Untitled Graphite on paper, 9 x 6’’
Cesar Villa I am a self-taught artist who has been making art since I was10 years old, and I admire the artist Luis Royo. Working on my art triggers creativity and brings me peace.
Cesar Villa Outside the Box Graphite on Paper, 9 x 11’’ 46
Cesar Villa Reception Graphite on Paper, 15 x 11’’
Richard Wyatt I am a self-taught tattooist and enjoy the flash style. I have never used color. “Flash� is my first color attempt. I have been making art for 35 years and I admire my fellow tattooist Bobby Tyrrell. Tattoos are forever and the feeling as I create and finish a piece is sublime. I would love to learn how to paint or watercolor.
48
Richard Wyatt Inksick Colored pencil on paper, 12 x 9’’
Art rarely has the agency that it does in prison. It is a
de facto tool of those who live within its borders precisely because it is viewed with skepticism: what can art possibly do, what can it make happen in such a feelingless place? Perhaps that is its gift: it needs no explanation, no justification to thrive. What art needs most inside is a champion and at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, Joannie G. is that person. For eight years she has gone to the facility once a month to provide workshops in non-violent communication. During the course of these workshops the men became aware that she was an artist and several of them brought their art work for her to see. This is what led her to seek out a gallery for its exhibition. Their tools are the most basic of implements— paper, found objects, pencils, pens—almost anything that will express the inner lining of living apart from what is normal— the daily give and take of work, relationship, and rest. These small confines of existence that go away for the men in her workshop. From September 11-October 11, 2019, some of this work will be on display at the Holland Project Art Gallery. And because I have taught in prison a long time, I recognize a pattern—the art transcends boundaries of razor wire to
50
represent meaning: I am still here, I have not left, I have value. The point of their art is not to lay claim to the order of their day; it is to step aside from an unwanted identity long enough to reveal another one. It gives each of the men an opportunity to live outside their back number for the brief time they experience her teaching. It gives them a way to move forward, to live beyond the classroom, to fully articulate what can be possible in this life that has been put on hold. Art has few requirements of prison: you must follow a regimen. You must pay attention to its creation. You must work to avoid its destruction. The same is true for artists on the outside except they get a second chance. That is why this exhibition is so necessary: this is their second chance. This is their moment to shine. And it is how they retake their dignity as people. by Shaun T. Griffin Shaun T. Griffin is a poet, essayist, teacher, and translator, local to the Northern Nevada Area. For over twenty years he has taught a poetry workshop at Northern Nevada Correctional Center and publishes a journal of their work, Razor Wire.
Razor Wire Poetry Poetry by three men in the Razor Wire Poetry Workshop, Northern Nevada Correctional Center.
52
Twenty to Life Doing life alone, together. Unlike the guilty, Leaves don’t fall; they flee. Floating, floating. A journey to ensconce amidst the smells of life and death. Redefining life, out of rejection. Sabin Barendt
Out of Reach Stumbling and unsure of any reasons why another nightmare crawls into this difficult life, watching, then capitalizing on stupid mistakes— a harbinger predicting imminent failure, a wraith of misfortune haunts and knocks everything simple, labors for a grunion that blows away, claws for relief that remains distant, errors while a new day is delayed to smash and dismantle a man’s hope— something escapes through the net of acceptance.
John Neff
54
Graves Many men’s feet Buried below earth— Where sand has taken its place. No trees sprout from Waterless ground— Kept still by grade I stand motionless, Wonder how Many men are still Remain without a Voice to call out— Why not me? William J. Connors
Colophon The publication for Bend in the River was designed by Henry MacDiarmid and Fiona McElhany in August of 2019 in association with the Holland Project in Reno, NV. This publication was printed and bound by Steuben Press in an edition of 75. Bend in the River employs Montserrat as the title font and HK Grotesk as the text font.
56