Vacaville, CA: 2002. A quantity of 39 full-page pen and ink drawings, presented in 12 three-page "greeting cards," 9 two-page "greeting cards," and 3 single page drawings. Together with a quantity of Christmas cards (one in mailing envelope) and one original photograph. The artwork was formerly inserted into plastic sleeves (now removed), original green cloth notebook preserved. Very good. Item #4270

A GRAPHIC NARRATIVE OF CARCERALITY, BEING AN EXTRAORDINARY ARCHIVE OF ORIGINAL ART BY AN INCARCERATED CALIFORNIA MAN, CONTAINING 39 EXACTING ILLUSTRATIONS SENT IN THE FORM OF MULTIPLE GREETING CARDS TO THE ARTIST'S MOTHER AND BROTHER FROM THE CALIFORNIA MEDICAL FACILITY OF VACAVILLE IN 2002.

The art in the present archive was created to connect with loved ones on the outside; the pieces are effectively "greeting cards" to the artist's family, with brief salutations inscribed to the recipient. The artwork is bold and unflinching, bearing such titles as California Prison State (inscribed "Dear Mom, I hope you like this card"), Agony and Ecstasy" (with an image of the artist's mug-shot, a pocket-watch, a prison tower, and dated tombstones, likewise inscribed "Dear Mom, I hope you like this card"), a Teddy Bear holding the artist's penal identification (inscribed "Dear Mom, I hope you like this card I am sending to you. There is a block on the phone"), Wanted Dead of Alive James Pardini Murder (with partially erased penal descriptive texts such as "Hair: Blond. Eyes: Blue. Weight: 150. Age: 55. Complexion: Fair. Nativity: Idaho"). Other subjects including prison towers (into one is inserted a large hourglass), a skeleton key, skulls, bikers, nude or partially nude women, strangely rendered cartoons such as Garfield, Mickey Mouse (in Fantasia) and Bugs Bunny, a Chicano, prison bars in the shape of California, and much more. Pardini's brother Fred received a little more than half of the "greeting cards." A poem accompanies one of them, here transcribed with spelling errors corrected:

"Behind the walls, in a prisons enclosure, hidden there from public exposure, men endure filth and human brutality, where nightmares exist in cruel reality. / Treated like animals, cheated and abused, their talents and skills shamefully used, where sadistic guards exercise them with condoned, By superiors, who encourage them. / Everyday in prison of a convicts life, is made to be one of strife, where in he is doomed to forever be the helpless victim of misery."

The artwork is imaginative and meticulously rendered, for which see the 67 (!) images on our website. Pardini's novel "greeting card" format involving applying cellophane tape to the left sides of 8.5 x 11" sheets of paper; this may have been the only adhesive available to him while incarcerated. Incredibly, all the sheets of paper are still intact, having been kept in a notebook for years. That said notebook is identified on the cover as "Jame's [sic] Pardini #2" implies that at least one other notebook existed.

The present archive reflects the resilience of many incarcerated artists, and the power of art as communication and connection, both in and out of prison. It is important to bring the work of incarcerated artists into the public realm in order to humanize people in prison, break stereotypes, and create dialogue about mass incarceration.

THE ARTIST: It is not easy to trace those who are have been incarcerated for decades. We believe that the present artist, James Gino Pardini, was born in in Idaho in 1947, the son of Gino Pardini of Italy (d. 1985) and Ruth (or Ruthe) Pardini. According to the Nevada State Journal of 16 Mar 1973 (p. 33), Pardini -- who was described as an "escaped California convict," was arrested in Reno for the theft of four pistols stolen from a sporting goods store in Sparks, NV. Pardini, 26, had served six years of a 16-year sentence for assaulting a police officer when he escaped from a prison crew conservation camp. Ten years later, Pardini made headlines for his failed attempted double-murder by insulin overdose, for which see the Berkeley Gazette of 9 May 1983 (p. 3). In one of his drawings of his mug-shot (dated 4-9-2002) he gives his location as "CMF-South": this is California Medical Facility South, in Vacaville, CA which is also psychiatric hospital. A record of his 2019 parole hearing which we transcribed here:

"PEOPLE V. JAMES GINO PARDINI"

"On December 4, 2019 at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California a parole hearing was held for Inmate James Gino Pardini. Pardini was still on parole from his 5 year prison sentence out of Glenn County for a Felon in Possession of Firearm felony conviction when he committed the new third strike felony of Felon in Possession of Ammunition and admitted to all three strikes. Pardini was sentenced to 25 years to life and had his first parole hearing. After a lengthy hearing, the Parole Board denied Pardini’s parole, and he will not be eligible for parole again for 3 years. 
The parole hearing was attended by Assistant District Attorney Ruby Neumann, who opposed the parole on behalf of Glenn County."

At Pardini's March 3, 2023 parole hearing he was deemed unsuitable for three years. His next parole hearing will be in March of 2026. He is still incarcerated at the Vacaville Medical Facility. James Gino Pardini is 78 years old. NB: All copyrights belong to the artist.

PROVENANCE: Ruth Pardini (d. 2013) of Oakland CA, mother of the artist --> Fred Pardini (b. 1951), brother of the artist --> Fairlook Antiques of Seattle, WA.

LITERATURE: See especially Nicole Fleetwood, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, 2020.

Price: $2,500.00