The New York Times
Artforum

JTT is proud to present its first solo show with James Yaya Hough, Invisible Life. On view are a series of line drawings and watercolors that delineate the economy of desire that emerges from within America’s carceral system. All are drafted on what Hough refers to as “institutional paper:” any state-issued documents required to process an inmate’s daily activities from weekly cafeteria menus to questionnaires for inmates to complete on triplicate copy paper.

The delicate lines of the ballpoint pen drawings render the inhuman aspects of incarceration through a visual language that Hough has developed over years. In them, an amalgamation of various mythologies such as an oversized fox head recall the sly fox of European folklore, and references to American culture, capitalism and white supremacy emerge through depictions of chicken wings, lightbulbs, dollar bills and ropes. One of the repeating figures found in the drawings is an anonymous human covered from head to toe in a white bodysuit with a stitching down its center. These faceless men are bound and suspended by ropes that carry them through an endless system of labor. In one drawing they stand tall with rectangular cavities receding into his chest like cells repeating in architecture. Mechanization of the body is also present in the explicit depiction of sexual encounters which oscillate between fantasy, humiliation and violence, often taking place as a part of a production line. Voluptuous women are prominent in Hough’s drawings and aside from one rare example of a self-portrait they are often the figures with faces. In some drawings these women are devoured by groups of much smaller creatures, in one drawing two women devour a torso laying on the ground, but in all works, the consumption of bodies is prevalent.

The watercolors on view are also interlaced with Hough’s iconography but are focused on a more literal representation of the daily life of being incarcerated: quiet portraits of other artists painting in the auditorium of Graterford Penitentiary in the morning, or inmates circled around an activity in the yard. In one work a security guard slouches over and stares contemplatively into the distance. It is painted on the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections letterhead detailing that inmates will be subjected to discipline for obtaining more than one meal tray during any one meal service period.

A majority of this series was made between approximately 2008 and 2016 while Hough was incarcerated at Graterford Penitentiary. Hough considers this series ongoing and we note on the checklist any drawings in this exhibition that have recently been completed.

James Yaya Hough (b. 1974, Pittsburgh, PA) lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. For over a decade, Hough has been heavily involved with Mural Arts Philadelphia. Since working with Mural Arts, Hough has created over 50 works that have been installed in Philadelphia, State Correctional Institution Graterford, and State Correctional Institution Phoenix. In 2019, as a part of a program supported by the Art for Justice Fund and Fair and Just Prosecution, Hough was selected to be the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at the Of ce of the District Attorney of Philadelphia. Most recently, Hough’s work was included in Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, curated by Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, at MoMA PS1, Queens, NY.