Gallery Dumps Art as ‘Racist’ : Exhibit: Latino community art center elicits charges of censorship by rejecting the graphic work of Manuel Ocampo for Columbian quincentennial.

Self-Help Graphics is in an agonizing dilemma. The Latino community art center--founded 20 years ago as a nonprofit forum for artists who couldn’t get their work shown elsewhere--stands accused of censorship.

At issue is “Vade Retro,” a painting by Manuel Ocampo designed as part of an installation for “Monster! Monster?,” a group exhibition about the quincentennial of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. Among many other things, “Vade Retro” depicts a cartoonish black man with gigantic genitals urinating on a cross.

The image is not particularly unusual for Ocampo, a 27-year-old Filipino artist who lives in Los Angeles and has skyrocketed to art world fame during the last two years. He often uses racial stereotypes and defamatory symbols as a means of provoking discussion about societal ills, but you won’t see his work at Galeria Otra Vez, the exhibition space at Self-Help Graphics. Instead, there is an expanse of bare walls where Ocampo has removed his entire installation.

“I feel very strongly about the artist’s right to express himself,” Self-Help director Sister Karen Boccalero said. “But this is a racist statement. It would not be acceptable in our Chicano community and to people who bring their children to the gallery.”

To show the offending image “would put the institution at risk” both in terms of community goodwill and financial support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Boccalero said.

On the other hand, to remove the painting would attract charges of censorship, she said. And that is exactly what has happened. Just before a reception opened to the public last Sunday afternoon, exhibition curator Martin Durazo posted the following statement:

“Monster? Not any more! The works of Manuel Ocampo will not be displayed at this gallery. Contrary to the opinions of the curator and the artist, Self-Help Graphics and Otra Vez have deemed Manuel Ocampo’s installation, ‘Vade Retro,’ inappropriate and lacking in artistic quality. The executive committee of Self-Help Graphics and Otra Vez believes it has an obligation to protect the sensitivity of its patrons at the expense of artistic expression. The curator respectfully disagrees with this type of censorship, and asserts that the patrons of Self-Help Graphics and Otra Vez are capable of viewing such work and making their own decisions.”

The irony of Self-Help playing the role of censor is undeniable. So is the pain, according to Boccalero and administrative assistant Tomas Benitez, who are trying to deal with a situation they wish would go away.

“Our credibility is on the line,” Benitez said. “We’re looking at a racist work that is intended to be challenging. But how much do you show? This is a Chicano community and these are tense times. Half of our city burned up six months ago.”

The artist and curator can walk away from the show, Benitez said, but the institution must take the heat. “Where’s the shared risk?” he asked.

“This is exactly the kind of art the NEA objects to,” Boccalero said. “I am aware that a debate is going on about this, but I don’t know of anyone or any group that has lost its life for this issue. I don’t think the community would expect Self-Help Graphics to give up its life or means of survival for that artwork.”

Ocampo has declined to comment on the controversy, but this is not his first brush with censorship. Having received widespread recognition for his works in an exhibition at the former Fred Hoffman Gallery in Santa Monica and “Helter Skelter” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, he was invited to participate in “Documenta IX,” this year’s edition of a prestigious international showcase in Kassel, Germany. Four of the five works Ocampo took to the exhibition were excluded because they contained swastikas. The artist argued that his use of the ancient mystic symbol didn’t constitute Nazi advocacy, but curators contended that his intention would be misunderstood and banned the paintings.

Although Ocampo has remained silent in the Self-Help affair, Durazo has risen to his defense. “The painting is not racist and to portray it or the artist in that way is a total travesty, and I say that with all the respect in the world for Self-Help,” said Durazo, an artist-in-residence at the East L.A. art center who is making his curatorial debut with “Monster! Monster?.” “I don’t think the members of the executive committee (Boccalero, Benitez and gallery director Arturo Urista) were well-versed in the art of Manual Ocampo. They probably didn’t understand . . . the way he uses imagery, so they were caught off guard,” he said.

“The executive committee is doing a disservice to the community by not showing Ocampo’s art,” Durazo said. “Community people who had only heard about Manuel Ocampo could have seen his work by just going around the corner. Now they will have to jump on a bus and go to Salander-O’Reilly and Fred Hoffman in Beverly Hills.” (Ocampo’s work also can be seen at Occidental College in Eagle Rock through Dec. 3.)

As for what is appropriate art for children, “I feel that one of the problems with the world today is that we are afraid of showing sexuality in art and discussing male genitalia with children, but we have no problem with violence, hatred and destruction,” Durazo said.

The trouble began when Durazo hung Ocampo’s work in the gallery. Curators’ choices are not screened before shows, Boccalero said, so she first saw “Vade Retro” on Saturday. That left no time to notify invited guests not to bring their children to the Sunday opening, she said.

Neither was there much time to find a solution to the problem, such as showing the work in a more acceptable context, she said. When Ocampo learned of objections to his work, he requested a meeting. Accounts vary, but tempers reportedly flared when all the parties met at Self-Help. An offer to post a statement explaining the artist’s intention was rebuffed, Durazo said. The substitution of another Ocampo work--a solution Boccalero would have preferred--wasn’t practical because Ocampo made “Vade Retro” specifically for the exhibition, Durazo said.

“When the meeting ended, I thought that the artist was willingly--not happily, not enthusiastically, but willingly--removing the work, and that was a solution,” Boccalero said. But when the gallery doors opened on Sunday, she was greeted by Durazo’s printed protest. “Given the time we put into the meeting, I felt that Martin had misrepresented us,” Boccalero said.

“He made an error in judgment about that piece, about who we are and what action we were going to take. I have to say that clearly, and I feel very uncomfortable saying it,” Boccalero said. “I feel in a very disagreeable situation because I am not able to support the curator.”

Durazo also voiced regrets. “I didn’t want any of this to happen,” he said, noting that his relationship with the art center is strained and his position as artist-in-residence may be in jeopardy.

At it stands, both sides have serious concerns about the impact of their actions. Leaders of Self-Help are particularly worried about how the situation will be viewed in the community and the larger art world.

“It’s not all pretty pictures here. We don’t pull down work because of nudity or anti-church statements. We expect biting statements in our quincentennial shows, and our ‘Day of the Dead’ show will be wild,” Benitez said. “We present work that couldn’t be presented anywhere else. That is the sadness.”