ARNOLD PRIETO (B. 1973) 
Executed: January 21, 2015
Huntsville State Penitentiary
Huntsville, Texas

"I started painting in prison. Out of necessity. I needed to support myself. The image Self Portrait depicts how it’s like to be inside. I suffered from depression. It shows what I lived for the last 20 years. Any Questions?!! is the last piece I did. The (Texas-shaped) card punched, in the eye of the executed person, it’s an expression, when a guy dies: ‘His card has been punched.’ I guess my drawings speak for themselves. They’ll be here when I’m no more." 

-  Arnold Prieto

The drawing Any Questions?!! is marked in honor of Willie Trottie, the 516th person to be executed in Texas. You can read Prieto's blog entries on Minutes Before Six here. 

In June 1995, Arnold Prieto was sentenced for the fatal stabbings of three elderly people during a robbery. Prieto admitted killing one person but turned down a plea deal for a prison sentence if he would testify against one of his companions. Of the three men involved in the crime, Prieto was the only one to get the death penalty. He was executed on January 21, 2015.