OUTLAW CLOTHESLINE
In memory of my brother Joseph Hernandez.
"I know, I know, I know I'm never never never gonna leave you babe.
But I gotta go away from this place."
-From the song Babe I'm Gonna Leave You by Led Zeppelin (cover of Joan Baez/ Anne Bredon)
The Outlaw Clothesline is an installation comprised of mixed media works on bandanas in memory of my brother Joseph Hernandez who ended his cancer battle in April of 2010. The bandanas piece together chapters of his life from beginning to end. Creating these works in the months leading up to the 4th anniversary of his passing was cathartic. As intimate tributes to my brother's life, they also double as tributes to the Brooklyn of our youth. Saying goodbye to a conflicted yet idealized Brooklyn of our past, I created these while packing and purging material baggage, both mine and his. Two weeks after the anniversary I left our East New York, our Park Slope, our Brooklyn, and moved to Puerto Rico.
A previous project, also dedicated to my brother, superimposed digital montages and calligraphy over the scanned image of one of his bandanas. The Outlaw Clothesline is a natural progression where the images and narratives come to life on actual bandanas. I had seen him use those bandanas, since my earliest memories of him dressed as an outlaw, to his work as a mason, to his final weeks battling through radiation and chemotherapy. I first worked directly on a bandana in my 2010 piece "Fuck Cancer." Soon after, the concept of a clothesline developed. Repurposing some of the concepts created on paper, I call the works on bandanas "remixes" tying them in to the authentic hip hop that my brother adored. I combine the use of my fountain pen and calligraphy markers, with those from the black case of markers that he would carry back and forth from hospital stays to make inspirational "Fuck Cancer" signs for his room. From highlights, to shadows, to lightning bolts and other embellishments created with his markers, I find his graf hand guiding mine. My big brother is a phenomenal spirit that has influenced every single aspect of my life and in particular my art, of which he was the biggest supporter. My connection to him has only strengthened in spirit. I am ever grateful for his light.
Detail, "Outlaw Clothesline," Yasmin Hernandez. 9 mixed media paintings on cotton bandanas, 20" x 20" each, chrome chain, clothespins.
Detail, "Outlaw Clothesline," Yasmin Hernandez. 9 mixed media paintings on cotton bandanas, 20" x 20" each, chrome chain, clothespins.
Detail, "Outlaw Clothesline," Yasmin Hernandez. 9 mixed media paintings on cotton bandanas, 20" x 20" each, chrome chain, clothespins.
"Prophet Remix", Mixed media on cotton bandana, 20 x 20 inches. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw Clothesline. Portrait of my brother as a young boy in Puerto Rico alongside a biblical verse I found in a book of his. It describes the selfless life he led. (The Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor and afflicted. He has sent me to bind up and heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound. Rom 10:15.
"...Like a Jungle Sometimes," 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw Clothesline series. Ink and acrylic on cotton bandana, 20 x 20 inches. Lyrics from "The Message," Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five: "Don't push me cuz I'm close to the edge/ I'm trying not to lose my head/ It's like a jungle sometimes/ It makes me wonder/ How I keep from going under." Listen at:
...Like a Jungle Sometimes, 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw Clothesline series. Ink and acrylic on cotton bandana, 20 x 20 inches. Lyrics from "The Message," Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five: "Don't push me cuz I'm close to the edge/ I'm trying not to lose my head/ It's like a jungle sometimes/ It makes me wonder/ How I keep from going under." Listen at:
"Outlaw." 2010. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw Clothesline series, Mixed media on watercolor paper, 18 x 12 inches. Image of my brother dressed as an outlaw, alongside an excerpt from my poem "Brooklyn Bred Boricua": Boricua outlaw brothers in leather and chains /Taken off their bodies and minds/ Turned into weapons of self defense/ Rockin' punk patches patria banderas and bandanas on their foreheads and back pockets."
"Outlaw Remix" 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Mixed media on cotton bandana 20 x 20 inches. Bandana remix of my 2010 Outlaw image on paper.
"Street Life," 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw Clothesline series. Ink on cotton bandana, 20 x 20 inches. This bandana marks my brother's coming of age in the streets of Park Slope, Coney Island and East New York, Brooklyn. Lyrics by Joe Sample & Will Jennings for the song of the same title by The Crusaders and Randy Crawford. (Street Life/ You can run away from time/ Street Life/ for a nickel for a dime/ Street Life/ But you better not get old/ Street Life/ Or you're gonna feel the cold) Listen at:
"Renegade," 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic and ink on cotton bandana, 20 x 20 inches. CJ/ CIC A renegade of this time and age. Excerpt "Renegades of Funk" by Afrika Bambaataa: Renegades are the people/ With their own philosophy/ They change the course of history/ Everyday people like you and me Listen at:
"Hear it Calling Me," 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw Clothesline Series, Mixed media on cotton bandana, 20 x 20 inches. This tribute to my brother marks the moment of his passing, recalling how I played the song "Babe I'm gonna leave you" by Led Zeppelin. With it, I realized that he was informing me of his impending departure and saying goodbye. He passed within a half hour. (Baby I'm gonna leave you...I ain't jokin' woman I've got to ramble...I can hear it calling me the way it used to do. I can hear it calling me back home.) Listen at:
"Play At Your Own Risk," 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw clothesline series. Mixed media on cotton bandana. 20 x 20 inches. Tribute to my brother Joseph lost to cancer in 2010, featuring my poem "Forever big brother" and my self portrait with my brother. (I imagine you complete and present/ My forever big brother/ I cement in my head/ My superhero vision of you/ That I crafted as a little girl/ You stand eternal, invincible, strong in that vision/ As you once were/ As you are now As you will always be be) The title is borrowed from the song by Planet Patrol. Listen at:
detail, "Play At Your Own Risk," 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw clothesline series. Mixed media on cotton bandana. 20 x 20 inches. Tribute to my brother Joseph lost to cancer in 2010, featuring my poem "Forever big brother" and my self portrait with my brother. (I imagine you complete and present/ My forever big brother/ I cement in my head/ My superhero vision of you/ That I crafted as a little girl/ You stand eternal, invincible, strong in that vision/ As you once were/ As you are now As you will always be be) Title is borrowed from the song by Planet Patrol. Listen at:
"Indestructible Remix," 2014. Yasmin Hernandez. Outlaw Clothesline series. Mixed media on cotton bandana, 20 x 20 inches. My brother took this photo of his own and my son's hand when Gabriel was just 6 months old. My brother passed 6 months later, just after Gabriel's 1st birthday. I created this piece with the lyrics of Ray Barreto's "Indestructible" which sings that when beloved blood is lost, in new blood lies Indestructible strength. "Cuando en la vida se sufre una herida/ Porque se pierde sangre querida/ en ese momento piensa que todo es posible/ que con la sangre nueva esta la fuerza indestructible." Listen at:
"Fuck Cancer," 2010. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic on cotton bandana 20 x 20 inches. This was the first bandana that I painted on directly & that inspired the Outlaw Clothesline series. It was an emotional process to paint my brother's portrait, bringing his image back to life after his passing. "Fuck Cancer" was his mantra that he would turn into graffiti signs for his room at the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. I copied the text from one of those signs onto this image.
Yasmin Hernandez with her Outlaw Clothesline series dedicated to the memory of her brother Joseph.
A video chronicle of this tribute to my brother’s life, fight and legacy.
Yasmin speaks with curator Savona Bailey of the 2014 Fusion Art exhibition in New York, where The Outlaw Clothesline Project debuted.