Italian street artist Blu calls MOCA’s removal of his mural censorship

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In a Times’ report on MOCA’s controversial decision to whitewash an antiwar mural it had commissioned for the Geffen Contemporary, museum director Jeffrey Deitch discusses his reasons for painting over the artwork.

Blu, the Italian street artist who created the mural, could not be reached for comment by press time. But after the story went to press, I received the following e-mail, addressing the question of whether he considers the removal of his mural censorship:

It is censorship that almost turned into self-censorship when they asked me to openly agree with their decision to erase the wall. In Soviet Union they were calling it ‘self-criticism.’

Deitch invited me to paint another mural over the one he erased, and I will not do that.

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-- Jori Finkel
Twitter.com/jorifinkel