De La Vega, A Living Hero

De La Vega, A Living Hero
By: Michele M. Velez

James De la Vega, 32, is best known for his similar artistic views as Keith Haring and Francisco de Goya, and for mixing a quiet idealism with searing social commentary. He is also well known in Spanish Harlem, El Barrio, for his vivid murals, featuring Puerto Rican rapper Big Pun and Tex-Mex singer, Selena (as well as others), that have transformed East Harlem's stale bricks into statements of Latino pride. The intelligent and ambitious artist who is a graduate of Ivy League college, Cornell University, just opened a brand-new East Village gallery, Galeria De La Vega, which he is very excited about and is located at 102 St. Marks Place New York, NY 10001.

James De La Vega lives and works in New York City's, El Barrio. He has a store on St. Mark's Place in the East Village and is primarily known for his murals and the chalk drawings he creates on public surfaces, such as sidewalks and building walls. His murals can be found all over Spanish Harlem, and his chalk drawings may show up anywhere in the city. His street drawings, mostly in chalk, are usually accompanied by aphoristic messages, like "Become Your Dream." Even though De La Vega’s work can be considered graffiti, many see his work on another level.

De La Vega's appreciation for his Puerto Rican heritage and the tensions of his neighborhood are also evident in much of his artwork. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, gentrification began creeping north of 96th Street –the invisible border between East Harlem and the Upper East Side. Several of De La Vega's works take note of this harmful cultural inroad. Through his mural and paintings he expresses this by writing, "Don't think we haven't noticed the 96th Street border moving north."

The public and counter-cultural nature of some of his work has gotten him into trouble with the law many times. In July 2003, De La Vega was charged with vandalism for a mural he painted on a blank wall in the Bronx. He was offered one year's probation in exchange for a guilty plea, but that would have required him to state that his intent was to "damage" property. He refused to declare this, however, because he believed that his art was not meant to cause damage but to open people’s eyes.

In spite of his refusal to admit that his work of art was intended to damage property, in June 2004, De la Vega faced trial for the offense, and the judge found him guilty. After apologizing to the building's owner, De La Vega was sentenced to 50 hours of community service at the Point Community Center, at 940 Garretson Avenue, on the charges of attempted criminal mischief, attempted graffiti making, and one count of possession of graffiti tools. Failure to comply with the stipulations of this sentence can result in a thirty day in-jail term. The authorities are not the only ones that are disturbed by De La Vega's work. Some of his opponents relentlessly mar the appearance of his most elaborate murals as well.

De La Vega used to own a studio and small store, where he sold his self- designed El Barrio-themed t-shirts and his art work, on 104th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. Later on, in 2005, he moved his studio to the East Village on St. Marks place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A, where it currently is located.