BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
They didn’t merely deinstall it. They buffed it—campus-style. Brown paper over glass, a quiet little blackout, like a night crew rolling beige paint across yesterday’s burner and calling it “maintenance.” The only twist is the location: not a freeway underpass, but a university gallery that’s supposed to teach young artists what it means to put their artwork and ideas into public circulation—so they can be seen and debated.
The show was Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá, the traveling solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based street artist/muralist/fine artist Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez—first staged at Boston University last fall, curated by Kate Fowle, then scheduled to run at the University of North Texas CVAD gallery through May. It included his bright, biting I.C.E. Scream paletas—sweet-looking monuments with handcuffs and weapons trapped inside—plus paintings, graffiti-rooted work, and cultural installations that treat everyday immigrant vernacular (bodega shelves, candles, carts) as both memory and evidence.
So far, administrators haven’t publicly explained the sudden closure; absent an explanation, the decision can read as reactive. Silence is a message too. A faculty petition didn’t mince words, calling the removal of “legally protected artistic expression” a contradiction of the institution’s stated commitments. What makes this story odious isn’t just the cancellation; it’s how familiar it feels: invite the ‘street artist’ in for edge, then pull back when the work refuses to sit quietly as décor.
And the cleanest read comes from someone still teaching in the building. Adjunct instructor Narong Tintamusik put it plainly to Hyperallergic: “As an educator, I think this is a good reminder for students about why they’re studying art….” Exactly. Art school should be a space to explore the pleasant and the difficult—and to remain unbuffable. It’s where students learn to stand up, not get crossed out. When a public university removes a reportedly contracted exhibition with little public explanation, it isn’t just the artist who gets ghosted. Students are being trained—by negative example—in how institutions translate controversy into ‘neutrality,’ something many will read as censorship.
BSA has been publishing Marka27’s work on the street for years, so we were interested in asking him about his gallery show, his opinions, and his intentions with Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá
BSA: When you use an object as culturally familiar and comforting as a paleta and embed enforcement tools within it, you’re creating a collision of associations. What response are you most interested in activating first — recognition, discomfort, or reconsideration?
Markus27: The I.C.E. SCREAM series was created to bring awareness and, most importantly, empathy. My goal is for viewers to see and acknowledge our humanity.
BSA: Universities often embrace “street art” as a visual language and cultural signal. Why does it still seem to surprise institutions when work rooted in that tradition carries a critique of the social and political conditions it emerges from?
Markus27: In my experience, university faculty and students are generally the ones who embrace progressive and socially impactful artwork. It is more often the university administration and its donors who have the power to influence decisions that lead to the censorship of exhibitions.
BSA: Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá centers dual belonging and the friction between identities. In your view, is there an unspoken expectation that artists present cultural experience without examining and questioning the forces shaping it?
Markus27: I cannot speak for other artists or their views on expectations. My work stems from lived experience and an authentic connection to my dual identity; it has never been about seeking acceptance, but rather about honesty. If my work is perceived as controversial, I believe that speaks more to a societal desire to control our narratives when we speak the truth.
BSA: If you were to restage this exhibition in Texas without institutional constraints, what kind of setting would allow the work to function as intended — culturally, politically, and spatially?
Markus27: I challenge museums and cultural institutions to step up and exhibit work that speaks to our current political climate. Currently, I am exhibiting “Elevar La Cultura,” a 22-foot immersive Mayan pyramid installation, at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas. They are a progressive institution that supports Latino communities and artists without censorship, and they would have been a great fit for “Ni De Aquí Ni De Allá.”
Click Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá to learn more about this exhibition.
BSA has covered Marka27 work HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. Below are a handful of images of Mr. Quiñonez’s work on the streets of NYC.
