Suspect surrenders nearly a year after Menil Picasso vandalism

Uriel Landeros has been on the run since June (photo from his Facebook page). Uriel Landeros has been on the run since June (photo from his Facebook page). Photo: (Facebook) Photo: (Facebook) Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Suspect surrenders nearly a year after Menil Picasso vandalism 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A Houston man accused of vandalizing a Picasso painting at the Menil museum last year surrendered to authorities Tuesday at the U.S.-Mexico border, his attorney said.

Uriel Landeros has been on the run since Picasso's "Woman in a Red Armchair" was spray-painted June 13 at the Menil Collection.

U.S. Marshals took Landeros into custody at the international bridge in McAllen, an arrangement coordinated by his lawyer, Emily Detoto.

"He surrendered at the urging of his family and myself, to come in and get started on the process," Detoto said. She said Landeros, a U.S. citizen, may have been in Mexico since he fled. He is expected to be brought to Harris County in days.

A cellphone video taken by a museum patron allegedly captured Landeros, who is in his early 20s, spray-painting a stencil of a bullfighter killing a bull and the word "conquista" - Spanish for "to conquer." The 1929 masterpiece is valued at several million dollars.

Landeros, an artist who has said he vandalized the painting to send a message promoting revolution and change, has been charged with criminal mischief and felony graffiti, both third-degree felonies.

The patron who captured the act on a camera phone later posted the video to YouTube, identifying Landeros in the caption.

In August, Landeros posted a video himself, saying he did not intend to destroy the painting. It has since been restored.

"I did this to turn heads," he says in the video, "to raise awareness. … I am sorry for insulting anybody who misunderstood my message."

Landeros' paintings were featured in a gallery show at James Perez's Summer Street studio in Houston last fall. Perez also defended Landeros' act against the vandalism label, describing it instead as a form of activism.

The profits raised from the sale of his paintings, which ranged in price from $400 to $1,250, were wired to Landeros.

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The gallery owner said he is a fan of the artist, while others in the art community continued to call the act vandalism.