Gabriel Villa (born in El Paso, Texas), is a
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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-based artist and
muralist
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
. Villa arrived in Chicago in the late 1990s. Observations of his neighborhood had a profound visual and conceptual impact on the evolution of his work. Subjects such as public housing, surveillance, the marginalized, gang culture, family, religion and most recently gentrification/displacement all begin to morph and weave into broader ideas.
2009 mural censorship controversy
In May 2009, he was commissioned to paint a mural on
private property in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood depicting three
Chicago Police Department public
surveillance cameras that carried the CPD logo along with other images, like a crucified
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, a deer head and a
skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...
. The mural was painted over completely by the
Graffiti Blasters at the behest of
11th ward Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
James Balcer
James A. Balcer (born June 24, 1950) is a former alderman of the 11th Ward of the City of Chicagomap. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed to the Chicago City Council by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1997. In May 2015, he was succeeded ...
, who said about the mural, "My main concern is the safety and well-being for the people in this community. We have gang violence and children getting shot, and I believed that the mural sent the wrong message." The incident sparked a local controversy over censorship, surveillance and private property.
[BLUECANVAS Magazine, No. 5 page 92 'Artist Vs. System' by Margarita Korol]
See also
*
Operation Virtual Shield
References
;Notes
Mural painted over sparks censorship debate on Chicago public radio
antena
External links
GabrielVilla.Net
Living people
1965 births
{{US-artist-stub