The CultureMap Interview

The Menil Picasso vandal answers questions, argues that museums steal from thepeople

In an artistic and political statement this summer, Houston artist UrielLanderos targeted a 1929 Picasso at the Menil Collection.
Uriel Landeros/Facebook
A cell phone video recorded Landeros spray-painting a stencil of a bullfighterand the word "conquista" onto the cubist work Women in a Red Chair.
fused00828/YouTube
Before his career as an art dealer, Tony Shafrazi spray-painted "Kill Lies All"on the Picasso masterwork Guernica.
The Saatchi Gallery
Picasso's Women in Red Chair from 1929
Photo by Hickey-Robertson, Houston
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas.
TheFullWiki.org

After spray-painting a 1929 Picasso at The Menil Collection in June, Uriel Landeros has been on the lam from state and federal authorities. While maintaining a low profile for more than two months, the young artist is beginning to share his thoughts on the Internet, including a fuller explanation of the motives that he posted on YouTube in late August.

CultureMap's received a detailed response from Landeros to questions. Via social media messaging, Landeros told CultureMap that his vandalism was an act driven by both politics and art, with a particular embrace of an activist philosophy seen in the Occupy movement.

Landeros says that the vandalism was an act driven by both politics and art, with a particular embrace of an activist philosophy seen in the Occupy movement.

He also discussed notions of cultural stewardship — an issue the Menil itself addressed during a public panel last November after the museum announced that its beloved Byzantine frescoes would be returning to their original owners, the Church of Cyprus.

Landeros even answered the million-dollar question about whether he felt a certain kinship with Tony Shafrazi, who spray-painted "Kill Lies All" on Picasso's Guernica in the mid 1970s before becoming a highly sought-after gallery owner.

CultureMap: As an artist, do you see your Picasso stencil primarily as an artistic act, a political act or both?

Uriel Landeros: Both, it took time and effort to organize the painting of my stencil. It was the art of being slick. Politically, because there are many people sick of the same old promises the elite government gives to the public.

And the public always loses. It's time to stand up against the machine.

CM: Do you see museums as being part of the One Percent?

UL: I love museums. I love appreciating art, but it makes me mad when I go into museums and I see archeological artifacts from different countries there. Most of those pieces have been stolen, along with the culture that the people from their origins can no longer have in their country. Being of Hispanic descent, it infuriates me and reminds me how much of our culture has been stolen and is now in Europe.

The Menil is an institution that has items with more value than money. You cannot buy archeology with money, you have to take it and steal it from someone else if you want it. That is what many museums have done with what belongs to the the public.

But many don't want to see the truth . . . It's like a blood diamond.

CM: Do you feel any connection to Tony Shafrazi's Guernica vandalism in 1974? He, of course, went on to become a mega-art dealer during the '80s boom years.

UL: Tony is a great art dealer . . . That's all I have to say.

unspecified

taking center stage

Stage adaptation of iconic Black movie Jason's Lyric to debut in Houston

Courtesy of Jason's Lyric

Most of the movie's cast will appear in the play.

Next year, Houston writer/producer/director/promoter Je’Caryous Johnson will be bringing another beloved Black movie to the live stage.

Jason’s Lyric will join New Jack City and Set It Off in the lineup of ‘90s Black-movie favorites that Johnson has adapted for the stage. The 1994 made-in-Houston drama stars Allen Payne and a pre-Will Smith Jada Pinkett as young lovers trying to maintain a relationship as conflicts and obstacles keep getting in the way.

Jason’s Lyric Live will go on a nationwide, 22-city tour, premiering right here in H-Town on Thursday, February 13 — just in time for Valentine’s Day.

“Houston is my home, and bringing Jason’s Lyric Live to life here first is my way of paying homage to the city and its people who inspired this story,” Johnson said in a statement. “This is more than a play; it’s a love letter to the community.”

Payne will reprise his role as Jason, with actress/model Eva Marcille stepping in Pinkett’s role as Lyric. Naughty by Nature rapper Treach, who played Lyric’s criminal big brother Alonzo in the movie, will also return to the role for the stage production. Tyrin Turner (Menace II Society), K. Michelle (Love & Hip Hop), and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Welcome Back, Kotter) will round out the cast.

"Jason’s Lyric is one of the films that defined my career as an actor,” Payne said. “To bring it to life on stage for audiences who loved the movie — and a new generation experiencing it for the first time — is an incredible honor."

Marcille is also psyched for the show, taking on the role that Pinkett memorably brought to life. "Lyric is a character who embodies resilience and hope, and I’m honored to bring her story to life on stage,” Marcille said.

Tickets will go on sale this Friday, December 13, at 10 am. For a full list of dates and ticket information, visit the website.