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ART & KRIMES BY KRIMES

Sponsored Project

  • Alysa Nahmias, Director
  • Amanda Spain, Producer
  • Benjamin Murray, Producer
  • Alysa Nahmias (& Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Producer
  • Jenifer Westphal, Producer
  • Patty Quillin, Producer
  • Joe Plummer; Co-Executive Producers Nion McEvoy & Leslie Berriman, Producer
  • Hallee Adelman & Ivy Herman, Producer
  • Ruth Ann Harnisch, Producer
  • Sheri Sobrato-Brisson), Producer
A man is looking up in front of a wall painting.

About the Project

While locked-up for six years in federal prison, artist Jesse Krimes secretly creates monumental works of art—including an astonishing 40-foot mural made with prison bed sheets, hair gel, and newspaper. He smuggles out each panel piece-by-piece with the help of fellow artists, only seeing the mural in totality upon coming home. As Jesse's work captures the art world's attention, he struggles to adjust to life outside, living with the threat that any misstep will trigger a life sentence. Leaning into his own identity as a formerly incarcerated and celebrated artist, Jesse turns the spotlight on people still in prison, asking us to question surface representations and to recognize overlooked beauty and power.