SAN DIEGO — A wall along the corner of Imperial Avenue and 30th Street was covered in a piece of art honoring the legacy of the Mysterio family. The mural artist, Daniel Angeles, also known as Dentlok created the art piece for the San Diego community.
It’s a mural representing the three generations of San Diego County natives and professional WWE wrestlers in the Mysterio family, Rey Mysterio Sr., Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio. Angeles included specific details to even the artists involved in Mysterio’s theme song ‘619.’ Rey Mysterio’s signature move was also included.
“Bring pride, you know bring that representation,” Angeles said.
Angeles dedicated five months to completing the mural. The community even helped raise money to buy paint for his piece.
“It was definitely a challenge but it was a challenge I was very happy and excited to take on,” Angeles said.
After he finished the mural, the business the wall belongs to went up for sale.
“It made me concerned of the future of the wall,” Angeles said.
While walking by to try to see if he can reach the new owner about the life of the mural, he noticed it had already been painted over. Angeles had gotten no warning that the mural would be gone.
“It took me a second to accept that it was gone,” Angeles said.
A local group has organized a community meeting Nov. 9th. Artists and activists are uniting to bring awareness on ways to preserve these murals before they get erased.
“We’re part of the community, we should work together.. We should make something that everybody is happy,” Angeles said.
Angeles hopes other artists can learn from his experience and get informed about laws that can prevent this from happening.
“It's called the CAPA, the California Arts Protection Act and what that dictates is that an owner can't destroy murals without going through the procedures of reaching out to the artist and coming on to an agreement where both can be happy,” Angeles said.
California Civil Code 987 section A states that, "...the the physical alteration or destruction of fine art, which is an expression of the artist’s personality, is detrimental to the artist’s reputation, and artists therefore have an interest in protecting their works of fine art against any alteration or destruction; and that there is also a public interest in preserving the integrity of cultural and artistic creations."
The Logan Community meeting will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 at 2031 Commercial St.
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