Gabriel Villa
Gabriel Villa (born in El Paso, Texas), is a Chicago-based artist and muralist. 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, a deer head and a skull.{{Cite web|url=http://www.antenapilsen.com/exhibit12.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904033642/http://www.antenapilsen.com/exhibit12.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-09-04|title=(((antena))) - June 2009|date=2011-09-04|access-date=2019-03-19}} The mural was painted over completely by the Graffiti Blasters{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Chicago-Graffiti-Task-Force-Paints-Over-Artists-Commissioned-Mural-Gabriel-Villa.html|title=Graffiti Blasters Paint Over Artist's Commissioned Mural|last=Rogers|first=Phil|website=NBC Chicago|date=15 May 2009 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-19}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/16/alderman-orders-mural-wit_n_204078.html|title=Alderman Orders Mural With Police Imagery Painted Over (VIDEO)|last=Taliaferro|first=Tim|date=2009-06-16|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2019-03-19|language=en-US}} at the behest of 11th ward Alderman James Balcer, 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."{{Cite web|url = http://www.gazettechicago.com/index/2009/07/balcer-orders-city-to-paint-over-mural-on-private-property/|title = Balcer orders City to paint over mural on private property|date = July 3, 2009|accessdate = April 4, 2015|website = |publisher = |last = |first = }} The incident sparked a local controversy over censorship, surveillance and private property.[https://sbenine.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/gabriel-villas-mural-destroyed/ Gabriel Villa’s Mural Destroyed], 05.15.2009, By Shannon Benine, mediating the mediumBLUECANVAS Magazine, No. 5 page 92 'Artist Vs. System' by Margarita Korol
See also
References
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;Notes
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- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090528134256/http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=34276 Mural painted over sparks censorship debate on Chicago public radio]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110707145426/http://www.antenapilsen.com/exhibit12.html "Surveillance & Spirituality":New works by Gabriel Villa], antena
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External links
- [http://gabrielvilla.net/ GabrielVilla.Net]
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Painters from Chicago
Category:Artists from El Paso, Texas
Category:21st-century American painters
Category:21st-century American male artists
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