Blu Responds to MOCA Censorship; Won't Paint Over Erased Mural

Here's the next installment in our ongoing coverage of the curious case of Blu's disappearing mural, which MOCA removed one day after the artist finished it because of the work's proximity to a veterans center and Japanese American memorial.

This was posted at Blu's blog:

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1. Moca asks me to paint a mural
2. I go to L.A. to paint the piece and I almost finish it
3. the Moca director decides to erase the wall
4. on the next day the mural is erased by Moca workers
5. journalists are still not sure if this can be called censorship
so they start asking my opinion about that

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And, via the Los Angeles Times, here is the artist's take on whether it constitutes 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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There you have it.

Thanks, Alissa!