A Brooklyn artist told the Denton Record-Chronicle that the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design was removing an entire exhibit of his work, which was scheduled to open on Feb. 19.
An anonymous tip to the Record-Chronicle on Wednesday alleged that the exhibit, Ni De Aquí Ni De Allá, by acclaimed street artist Victor Quiñonez, AKA Marka27, included work that denounces United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A university spokeswoman confirmed the cancellation of the exhibit on Thursday morning, but gave no stated reason.
"The agreement with Boston University for this exhibition was terminated, and UNT has informed Boston University and Mr. Quinonez," the spokeswoman said in an email.
In November, the UNT galleries website listed Ni De Aquí Ni De Allá as an exhibit scheduled for the spring of 2026. On Thursday, it's no longer listed.
"I received several DMs from UNT students earlier today," Quiñonez said in an email message to the newspaper. "They were asking me if the show was closing early... I was confused because UNT has failed to reply to my emails for several days."
However, Quiñonez did share an email he received from the university about the exhibit's status:
"I am writing to let you know that the university has terminated the art loan agreement with Boston University Art Galleries for 'Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá,'" the message said. "The university is making arrangements to return the exhibit to Boston University. Any activities associated with the exhibition are no longer necessary. However, please let us know if you have incurred travel expenses related to the exhibition for reimbursement."
The email was signed with a first name only and didn't indicate any UNT department.
On campus, the glass windows of the CVAD Gallery were reportedly entirely covered in brown paper on Wednesday.
His Ni De Aquí Ni De Allá exhibit invokes the color-saturated textiles, architecture and food of Mexico and Mexican-American communities in the U.S. And the exhibit, which was scheduled to open in the CVAD gallery this month, explores Mexican and Mexican-American identity and expression.
Quiñonez's art looks at the culture and community that is at once braided through the fabric of North America, but trapped politically in a kind of no-man's land. He drenches paleta carts in gold, repurposing them as Nichos Mexicanos that contain religious and cultural icons — a Virgen de Guadalupe framed with gilded calla lilies, a whisper from Diego Rivera's famous "Cargador de Flores." The exhibit recreates a bodega shelf full of multi-colored novena candles, a nod to historical Catholicism and colonization as well as the religious bonds that connect both immigrant and Latinos in America.
Some of the work is a pointed criticism of ICE, which has provoked protests all over the country after the Trump administration's pointed increase in deportations and immigration enforcement. After several high-profile killings of protestors in Minneapolis, criticism of U.S. immigration policy and anger at ICE officers and the Trump administration has surged.
Quiñonez created giant, melting paletas — confrontational pieces that contain handcuffs or revolvers, like a fossilized dragonfly suspended in amber. Another piece brings the hustle of immigrant street food vendors into plain view — a clear paleta cart shaded by an umbrella printed with quiet American flags. Happy tassels hand on the cart's handle. But the broad side that patrons can see? It's emblazoned with a message: "I.C.E. SCREAM."
The front of the cart has an official seal, but this one reads "U.S. Department of Stolen Land Security." Inside the shield on this seal? A masked face.
The exhibit also included art inspired by Marka27 murals — brown-skinned people surrounded by a riot of color.
Quiñonez said the gallery was open to the public, and he thinks that a few people saw the exhibit for the short time that it was open.
The alleged removal of the exhibit comes nearly one year after Republican state lawmakers demanded the college remove a student exhibit. Critics and some Jewish students said the show, in which two student artists, who were Muslim women, explored the war in Gaza and the fate of Palestinians. University officials didn't remove the show, but at least one piece was removed from the gallery.
The removal of the work appears to violate the university's policy governing art exhibits.
The university policy states: "Decisions regarding works of art exhibited in UNT facilities shall be consistent with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the State of Texas Constitution, the principles of academic freedom and academic responsibility, and applicable UNT System Regents Rules, UNT System Regulations, and campus policies."
The policy says that art doesn't infringe on the constitutional rights of the viewer "solely because a viewer is offended by the idea or opinion portrayed in a work of art." However, the policy doesn't protect art that "is likely to incite or produce imminent lawless action," or uses "fighting words," or is obscene.
Quiñonez is also currently listed as the juror of the Paul Voertman Juried Student Exhibition last fall, a long-running and esteemed annual student exhibit at UNT. That exhibit is running through the end of the month in the Cora Stafford Gallery.
LUCINDA BREEDING-GONZALES can be reached at 940-566-6877 and cbreeding@dentonrc.com.
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