A Little Sentence = Tattoos on paper: words & art from young offenders

An exhibition of tattoos designed by young offenders to explore and explain their lives opens at Pedestrian Gallery in Leicester on 14^th September 2011.

In summer 2011, young offenders in HMYOI Glen Parva used the stylings of tattoos to design images and poetic statements. Tattoos contain some of the most powerful statements that people make - layering words, image and identity.

Through a combination of writing and art workshops, participants pinned their feelings down on paper, to be seen and appreciated by the wider community in Leicester. They pay tribute to the people they care about most, describing their dreams and some nightmares too. They are touching, funny, ambiguous and surprisingly vulnerable.

The project was a partnership between arthur+martha CIC, Rideout and the Education Department of Milton Keynes College. arthur+martha work with people whose voices might not be heard – homeless people, school pupils in danger of exclusion, older people in healthcare, holocaust survivors and others. Rideout, the commissioners of this project, have facilitated creative work in prisons for over a decade.

A Little Sentence is part of The Truth About, Rideout's programme of work in which professional artists are commissioned to develop new artworks that arise from spending time working with prisoners. The Truth About has been funded with support from the European Union (DG Justice), Simplyhealth, and Arts Council England.

HMYOI Glen Parva does not condone the use of actual tattoos on skin.

"GROW ROSES or you are wasting time & time you never get back." (Participant, HMYOI Glen Parva 2011)

For opening times, please call the gallery on 0116 261 6891

Pedestrian Gallery

LCB Depot
31 Rutland Street
Cultural Quarter
Leicester
LE1 1RE