Matthew Chase-Daniel's Masking Movie Posters project

Over the decades, Zorro, The Lone Ranger, and The Man in the Iron Mask have captured moviegoers’ imaginations in tales of romance, adventure, and derring-do. But most of us are wearing masks today for reasons of health and safety. You may never get to slash a “Z” onto your enemies with a rapier, but you may be saving someone’s life. Local artist Matthew Chase-Daniel’s current public art project, Masking Movie Posters, takes iconic imagery from various movie posters, changes the titles, and adds masks on all of the characters in the posters, like the ones we wear to protect ourselves and others from the novel coronavirus. Chase-Daniel’s project started with a grant from the City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department’s Culture Connects CARES initiative, which is focused on providing sustainable solutions for artists during these uncertain times. Chase-Daniel installed the reimagined posters outside of venues around town, including one at the Lensic Performing Arts Center (211 W. San Francisco St., 505-988-1234, lensic.org), and a series of seven posters at Violet Crown (1606 Alcaldesa St., 505-216-5678, santafe.violetcrown.com) and Cloud 5 Project Space (1805 Second St., 505-954-1274). The Masking Movie Posters project will remain up indefinitely at these locations and can also be viewed on the artist’s website at chasedaniel.com/zorro.