James Hough
James “Yaya” Hough
James “Yaya” Hough collage series from prison Wall Text
James “Yaya” Hough’s work aims to re-sensitize our culture to the brutality of human caging, police violence, and systemic injustice, in the U.S. criminal legal system. His work examines racism and state sponsored violence, utilizing collage and appropriation of imagery and materials to interrogate depictions of Blackness and the underlying scaffolding of white supremacy. Hough’s practice also incorporates materials from the prison, revealing the criminal punishment system as it exists while reclaiming power and agency through material redeployment.
James “Yaya” Hough is a visual artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. His work focuses on examining issues of mass incarceration, race, and U.S. history. He was arrested at the age of seventeen and served more than 23 years of a mandatory Life Without Parole sentence until his release after a landmark Supreme Court ruling. While incarcerated as a juvenile lifer, Hough used his time in prison to educate himself, create artwork, mentor other artists, and collaborate with his peers. His deep self-reflection and creative process served as a means to both reveal and resist a punitive and unforgiving prison system. Since 2006, Hough has worked as a muralist with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, which previously operated at State Correctional Institution (SCI) Graterford. He completed over fifty projects through the program at SCI Graterford and SCI Phoenix. As a working member of Mural Arts, he was involved in Decarcerate PA! and Project LifeLines because he wanted to be part of changing the prison system in Pennsylvania and abolishing Life Without Parole, especially for lifers deserving a second chance. Last summer, Hough was released from SCI Phoenix and he is currently the nation’s first artist-in-residence at Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. His work is currently being exhibited in Rendering Justice, at the African American Museum of Philadelphia and Marking Time: Art in the Age of Incarceration, at MoMA PS1.
Untitiled, 2015, paper collage, 8.5” x 11”
Dogged Strength, 2014, paper collage, 8.5” x 11”
Untitiled (cash slip), 2013, paper and watercolor, 6” x 8”
Untitiled, 2015, paper collage, 8.5” x 11”
Dicklynchers, 2016, paper collage, 8.5” x 11”
Untitled, 2015, paper, acrylic, graphite, 24” x 36”