A city of San Mateo public art program shut down entirely after one political artist’s depictions of police brutality stirred up controversy among the public and various city departments.
The Bay Area-based political artist, Diego Marcial Rios, says his art was censored after two of his 20 paintings hung up in San Mateo’s City Hall offended the San Mateo Police Department.
On July 17, Rios installed 20 paintings in City Hall in a single-artist gallery as part of the city’s Library Public Art Exhibit Program. Less than two days later, Rios said he received an email from a gallery organizer that there was a “problem” with some of his pieces, and they requested he swap them out.
The pieces in question were two 10-by-10-inch paintings — one of which shows a figure with his hands raised and demons behind them, with “Police Stop Killing Us” written on the bottom, and the other which depicts a skeleton police officer running, with “Will Kill Blacks and Mexicans Cheap!” written below it. The other artwork featured in the gallery were mostly pieces inspired by religious art, Mexican American culture and Latin history, said Rios.
Rios, who has had 500 exhibitions around the world, said that he has occasionally run into requests to swap out his paintings before, and he understands that his art can make other people uncomfortable. He said he expressed his willingness to switch out the paintings to city organizers.
“People object to my artwork all the time, because I’m a political artist, of course,” Rios said.
A few days later, his art was taken down entirely without warning, which is something he has never experienced, he said. And it wasn’t just his art — the two other exhibitions that were part of the program were also removed, and the city suspended the project.
Upon request for comment, the San Mateo Police Department forwarded a statement posted on the city’s website, which has since been deleted, that confirms that the program has been suspended until further notice as the art selection committee reviews its policies and procedures. The city was “concerned by the paintings and their impact” on its staff and the public, according to the statement.
“While the artist was vetted through a joint community and library art selection committee, the paintings in question had not been reviewed by anyone prior to them being hung and were removed the next day, after the City suspended the entire program so we could revise our policies,” reads the statement.
Recommended for you
Interim City Manager Christina Horrisberger said in a statement that Rios and other artists in the program were selected based on a small sample of their work. “Much” of his artwork hung at City Hall had not been seen by the selection committee, with “several pieces of work” including “strong political connotations,” she said.
She added that the city took a closer look at the library’s selection process after residents and “staff from several departments throughout the organization” raised concerns about Rios’ artwork. The city decided to suspend the entire program after finding the program did not have a process to “thoroughly vet the artwork,” she said.
“City Hall is intended to be a welcoming place where community members with diverse and often differing viewpoints can interact with their government and receive important services,” Horrisberger said. “It is also a workplace and we take pride in promoting an inclusive environment where employees with a variety of perspectives feel welcomed and respected.”
As a result of the controversy, Horrisberger said the city will refine its submission and selection criteria and define a direct oversight process so the program can “support a welcoming and respectful environment for people of all viewpoints.”
But Rios considers the removal to be a reflection of the city and its police department’s insecurities.
“What really happened was a couple of these officers got pissed off, they criticized the artwork and they demanded to take it down,” Rios said.
“This tells me that if the police department is that insecure and that sensitive towards criticism, what are they hiding?” he added.
He said that his artwork is meant to challenge people intellectually and prompt discussion and thought. Maybe his communication is not quite what the city wanted, he said.
“The reason for political artwork is to communicate struggle and issues. Apparently [the paintings] did their job — all 10 inches by 10 inches,” Rios said.
(9) comments
Great reporting. This is a tough one. There is no question police brutality exists in our country. The paintings put that front and center and it’s an important message to get across and then work to change. What disturbed me personally was what message this meant to our own police force, who have worked extremely hard to build community and respect throughout San Mateo. I respect our police deeply, feeling they have transcended the incredibly bad actions we are still witnessing in police forces across the country. Too sensitive? Hell yes, how could you not be? In the right context, this art is powerful and makes you think. But in a local city hall, the context is local, and just doesn’t seem fair to hoist on our own police force. It’s about respect locally, not censorship.
There's freedom of speech and then there is stirring of a hate pot. This artist can say what he wants, but it was the PUBLIC, the ones who know how our police department operates in our community, that were outraged at this artwork being displayed at City Hall.
Residents see the 24/7 active engagement the SMPD strives for in our city - including area lieutenants' regular interactions with neighborhood associations, outreach and services to families and children in need, specially hired/embedded staff to help those in mental health crises, transparency on their website, and continuous efforts to improve everything related to police services, including immediate text surveys to residents who contact the department. The list goes on and on.
While there is always room for improvement for darn near everything, the SMPD is held in high regard. This artwork was chosen poorly and residents don't support having that kind of hate pot stirred here in San Mateo.
P.S. There was a murder in my neighborhood yesterday and the SMPD caught the guy within 2 hours of finding the stabbing victim. Maybe the artist could do a piece on that.
This is not art. It is a despicable piece of garage that the creator used a broad and mean-spirited brush to demean the hard-working men and women of law enforcement. This is an attempt by the creator to spread capiophopia throughout the community. Since when did police officers lose the right to object or question the legitimacy of a product that demeans them and their chosen profession? If one was to create a “piece of art” depicting a prison with a long line of POC walking through the front door with the caption, “Build it and they will come” and hung it in a public building - it would cause a community uproar and rightfully so! Removing this piece of garbage was appropriate. It represented no community value, other them to spark hatred toward the police and take up space on a wall.
Let's face it. This is not art by any definition. A Fourth Grader could have put some of this collection of detritus on paper. Why even give this guy a chance? It reminds me of some of the SOMA exhibits that make folks stare and ask, why is that on display here when it should have been at a Recology's facility.
How did the hate mongers drawings get past the front door.
Drew Corbett? Where were you?
Rick Bonilla?
Care to comment?
it’s not a depiction of police brutality. It is a slandering of our local police in San Mateo.
Being incompetent and not paying attention.
Not surprising, Ugly like poor El Camino Real here, historical road with ugly cheap bldgs. everywhere. Where are trees and flowers and parks?
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.