University of North Texas Closes Exhibition With Anti-ICE Artwork

The University of North Texas abruptly closed an exhibition by Victor Quiñonez a week after it opened. Quiñonez said he learned of the shutdown when students messaged him that the gallery windows in Denton had been covered and the door locked. Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá packed political messages into everyday scenes from the artist’s childhood.

A life-size Botánica displayed candles and saints with blessings such as “student loans disappear,” while large acrylic paletas were mounted on wooden sticks bearing the phrase “Immigration and Cruelty Enforcement,” set on a cart labeled “I.C.E Scream”; the Department of Homeland Security logo had been altered to read “Stolen Land Security.” Quiñonez had expected the show to run three months.

Instead, a week after the opening he received an email from Stefanie Dlugosz-Acton, director of the galleries, saying the university had terminated a loan agreement with Boston University and would return his work, offering no further explanation.

United States, Denton, Texas

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