Picasso Vandal Gets His Own Art Show

Crime, it turns out, may pay after all, assuming you can find enough people who can comfortably reinterpret an act of artistic vandalism as a statement.

Uriel Landeros, a 22-year old artist who lives in Houston, walked into the city's Menil Collection on June 13 and spray painted a stenciled image of a bull, a matador and the Spanish word “conquista,” or conquest, onto Picasso's “Woman in a Red Armchair.” Another visitor to the collection caught the act on a cellphone video, and Mr. Landeros, charged with felony graffiti and criminal mischief â€" crimes that carry a two to ten year jail term and a fine of up to $10,000 â€" has been in hiding ever since.

But to the astonishment of many art lovers who regard Mr. Landeros's act of defacement as unconscionable, the Cueto James Art Gallery in Houston has now given Mr. Landeros his own showâ€"with the whimsical title, “Houston, We Have a Problem.” The show, scheduled to open on Friday, includes a dozen o f Mr. Landeros's paintings.

In its description of the exhibition, the gallery refers to Mr. Landeros as the “infamous artist” who “tagged the Picasso painting at the Menil.” And James Perez, the owner, told the Associated Press that “it made me happy that someone could evoke this kind of emotion in people.”

From Mr. Perez's point of view, Mr. Landeros's “tagging” act was really just a kind of remix.

“It's just taking something and making it your own,” he said. “I like what Uriel did. That makes it yours.”

Mr. Perez did not return a telephone message on Friday afternoon.