For a decade, the mural outside the Romantix adult store, formerly Taboo, on Midlothian Turnpike has been one of Richmond’s most debated pieces of public art. Now it’s gone, replaced by a new collaboration between tattoo artist and muralist Jesse Smith and Miami-based artist Tatiana Suarez.
The original mural, painted by Smith and Peruvian artist Miguel de Cuadro in 2015, became one of Richmond’s most talked about public artworks. As news outlets covered the project, Smith said the conversation took on a life of its own.
“We didn’t think anything of it, and then all of a sudden the news started showing up because they were getting complaints,” Smith said. “People thought the girl was too young. Other people thought the apple represented sin. People were just kind of pushing their own ideas onto what the mural meant.”
Smith said none of those interpretations reflected the artists’ intentions. “Miguel paints women all the time, I do critters, and we just put it all together. Then all of a sudden people are talking about the age of the woman on the wall and pedophilia and all this weird stuff. It’s crazy.”
Looking back, Smith believes the reaction had less to do with the artwork itself than where it was painted. “I think the real problem is they just don’t want a sex shop. They don’t want attention brought to it. If it was on the side of an ice cream store or something, I don’t think people would have been upset.”
When the building’s new owners decided it was time for a new mural, they initially approached Smith about painting a more traditional Richmond scene featuring the James River and Main Street Station. Smith declined, saying it wasn’t really his style. Instead, he pitched another whimsical concept built around his signature creatures and invited Suarez to collaborate after Miguel de Cuadro couldn’t make the trip.
Suarez said she immediately understood the assignment after Smith sent her articles about the controversy surrounding the original mural. “The owners wanted to paint over it, but Jesse proposed switching it up a bit,” she said. “He sent me all the news stories about the previous one, and I thought it was pretty funny.”
Rather than erase the old mural’s playful innuendo, the pair decided to lean into it. “People that were upset are like, ‘Oh, they’re finally painting over it.’ But we’re kind of painting the same joke,” Suarez said. “Instead of a girl feeding a beaver, now it’s a woman playing with her pink cat.”
She said the new mural even playfully responds to one of the biggest criticisms of the original. “People were arguing that she looked too young,” Suarez said. “So we made her look older. The joke is that she’s 69 years old. We’re really leaning into it.”
As for whether this one will spark another round of debate, Smith isn’t too concerned. “I’ve never really tried to offend anyone with my art,” he said. “It’s just me having fun and doing cartoons. Every once in a while, people get upset about it.”
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