PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A formerly incarcerated Philadelphia-based artist is collaborating with a wine company to raise awareness of the need for prison reform.
The Prisoner is a wine company based in California’s Napa Valley. Since its founding nearly two decades ago, the company has stood against oppression and mass incarceration while embracing creativity.
In 2022, they launched their annual, limited-edition Corrections wine series to amplify the need for prison reform. This year’s label features artwork created by Philadelphia artist Jesse Krimes.
Krimes grew up poor with little opportunity and turned to selling drugs to support himself. He was caught with 140 grams of cocaine, and when he refused to tell on others, his jail time was increased and he was placed in solitary confinement.
He created the art piece during his six years in federal prison, using newspapers, bed sheets, hair gel and a spoon.
“I started removing the images from the textual narratives that were surrounding it and transferring them onto prison bedsheets using hair gel and a spoon. And that image would then be inscribed on the bedsheet and I would come back over top of it with colored pencils to blend everything together,” Krimes said.
The main problem with the criminal justice system is that it perpetuates cycles of poverty, says Krimes.
“How do we actually treat people with mental health issues? How do we actually treat people who are just struggling to survive, can't find jobs, or are living in poverty?” he asks.
“And so, the answer, for me is, like: You don't then put that person into a prison, and traumatize them and isolate them even further.”
In the years after his release, Krimes started the Center for Art and Advocacy to create a system of support for formerly incarcerated creatives to tell their stories and change the prevailing narratives about people who are convicted of crimes.
“Because so much of what exists in the world are these damaging stereotypes of, you know, everyone in prison is scary, they're a monster, they’re some kind of criminal mastermind. And what artists are able to do, particularly artists who have gone through that experience, is tell a different story.”
The current edition of the Corrections series debuted last week.