How Paño Arte Becomes Artepaño
about 9 months ago (02/11/2024)
How Paño Arte Becomes Artepaño Skip to content Unidentified artist, “SanAnto” (date unknown), ink on cotton, 15 x 15 inches (all photos by Reno Leplat-Torti, courtesy the Reno-Leplat-Torti Collection) If paño arte is the private-facing practice of artists serving time in penitentiaries across the United States, then artepaño encompasses the afterlife of the artifact. Discarded by intended recipients, paños — ink drawings executed on commissary handkerchiefs used to communicate with loved ones — end up in estate sales or second-hand shops. Through bulk donations of second-hand linens, they find their way into thrift stores, antique shops, and flea markets across the American Southwest.