My friend David forwarded this to me. It is a lot from Simpson Galleries, a local Houston auction house. The lot is a painting called Ladrón de mi Cerebro (Thief of my Brain) by Uriel Landeros. The minimum bid is a mere $100.
In June of 2012, Uriel Landeros spraypainted a stencil onto a Picasso painting at the Menil, while an accomplice filmed him.
They placed the video online, which alerted the authorities and Landeros lammed it to Mexico for several months before returning to Houston and turning himself in. In May of 2013, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 years in jail, of which he had already served five months. Assuming that Landeros didn’t have any further legal problems, he’s been free for years. He is still an artist and goes by the nom de graffiti of “Conquista”. He is featured in the McAllen Art Walk this month. He will be there in person on May 6, if any of my readers are in the vicinity of McAllen on that date.
I read about the McAllen Art Walk in Texas Border Business (a publication that until today, I had never heard of). Landeros is quoted in the article, and it is fucking hilarious.
Graffiti Superstar, Uriel “Conquista” Landeros, studied Fine Arts at the University of Houston; he is an Artist, activist and painter. “The Disruptors” art exhibition is his latest works, which include controversial world leaders, like Vladimir Putin, Adolf Hitler, George Washington and Kim Jong-un, as well as many others.
“I painted these figures in large scale to reflect their power and dominance in world history, as well as in current times,” said Conquista. “The lion doesn’t ask to be a lion. He just is. And in the same way, these men did not ask to be who they were. For better or worse, it was their destiny.”
This was published on May 2 in an unsigned article; the author may be relieved that he or she is not credited by name.
I wrote a lot about Landeros as his weird saga was unfolding. While he was on the lam in Mexico, a gallery in Houston put on a show of his work. I attended the opening night and videotaped the show.