Behind the Censor Bar

Moris (Israel Meza Moreno)

(b. 1978, Mexico)

Miradas I

2012

Miradas I is a series of "Miradas" made up of black acrylic paint over a highly pixelated photo of a group of criminals. It portrays the one of the most exposing part of someones body - the eyes. While covering someones eyes can be used as an effective form of censorship, Moreno chooses to display this personal feature. This might be so that the exhibit viewer can relate to the criminal, and say "those could be my eyes" or "my friends eyes". 

Created in Mexico City in 1978, it captures the idea that it is harder to identify what criminals will look like. Especially during this time period in Mexico City, there was not a stereotype for someone who was a risk. 

Original Work

My Attempted Sketch


As one can see in the picture of Moreno's original work and my attempted sketch, the eyes are what stand out. It is often said that eyes are "the windows to the soul". Maybe Moreno is trying to reveal the true nature of these criminals, as opposed to having their only identification come from the crimes they have committed.

Moreno uses the dark acrylic paint to make the light parts the focus of the viewer. The box shapes around the eyes create a uniformity in the midst of the different expressions that each set of eyes possess. The slight transparency of the black paint creates an illusion of what is left of the person before they were condensed to only their eyes being visible.

  This work negates the societal idea of judging a criminal from the crime he or she has committed. Moreno strips each criminal of their "masks" and displays the deep connection two people can have through eye contact (the viewer and the criminal). The title of the work Miradas actually means "look" which can be interpreted either from the perspective of the criminal looking out of the black boxes or the art viewer looking in.

The museum exhibit focused on the absence of something in each piece. I think that this piece was chosen to be a part of it not only because of its lack of including the bodies of these criminals, but also because it forces the viewers to have a lack of premature judgement over them as well. Even though this piece is almost forty years old, it still has significant meaning in today's society. One cannot judge the soul of a man or woman by simply a look…a mirada.