Gabriel Villa (born in El Paso, Texas), is a Chicago-based artist and muralist.
Observations of his neighborhood had a profound visual and conceptual impact on the evolution of his work.
Subjects such as public housing, surveillance, the marginalized, gang culture, family, religion and most recently gentrification/displacement all begin to morph and weave into broader ideas.
In May 2009, he was commissioned to paint a mural on private property in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood depicting three Chicago Police Department public surveillance cameras that carried the CPD logo along with other images, like a crucified Christ, a deer head and a skull.
We have gang violence and children getting shot, and I believed that the mural sent the wrong message.