TEXAS CHICANO PRISON PAÑO 002

Collection

American Gang Culture · American Prison System · Prison Art

Artist

Puppet

Origin

Undisclosed San Antonio Prison
San Antonio, Texas, USA

Year

2008

Medium

Ink on cotton

Association

Sureño-affiliated prison gang member within the Texas prison system.

Description

Hand-drawn prison paño executed in ink on cotton fabric depicting a collage of Chicano prison imagery. The composition features a crying face at the top, a decorated skull, a demonic face, and a hooded Grim Reaper embracing a crying gang member. A bald male inmate stands beside prison bars, while the center of the artwork is dominated by a skeletal correctional officer smoking a cigarette. In the lower right, a tattooed gang member bearing a visible "13" tattoo on his forearm is depicted crying, beside a separate vignette showing a woman holding the hands of a small child within a radiant background. Additional imagery includes a partial female face with tears, a prison cell door, and a hand extending into the foreground.

Other items

CDCR PRISONER T-SHIRT Private collection / American Prison System / Uniforms

CALIFORNIA CHICANO PRISON PAÑO 001 Private collection / American Gang Culture / American Prison System / Prison Art

PRISON SHANK 001 Private collection / American Prison System / Weapons

HAND-POKE PRISON TATTOO TOOL Private collection / American Prison System

PRISON SHANK 010 Private collection / American Prison System / Weapons