A woman who dropped her drawers in front of a painting at the Louvre museum was acquitted in a Paris court on October 19.
Charges of sexual exhibitionism were waived as the judge agreed with her defence that she was executing a militant and artistic act to question the place of women in art history.
She did manage to sink her teeth into the jacket of a security guard while being dragged from her post below the famous Mona Lisa painting, under the gaze of a gawping public.
Possibly the bite was also meant to be symbolic, except the court didn’t see it that way. She got 35 days community service for chewing on the guard’s uniform (designed by Balenciaga for the Louvre.)
It was the third time this “guerrilla performance artist” Deborah de Robertishas rubbed up against the law, most notably her unsanctioned appearance in the nude at an exhibition dedicated to the Barbie doll.
You kind of see where she’s coming from. Here is a woman with a message, although you may not want to run into her in full display mode while treating your grandchildren to a day at the museum.
Heritage may be more hallowed to some of us than to others. Any protected natural area also counts as a sort of open-air museum.
While the artistic female flasher was awaiting the outcome of her trial, a self-proclaimed “artistic gangster” hailing from southeast London was busy wielding his spray can in the mouth of the Kantra Valley in Xlendi. Nathan Bowen, whose signed images have polluted our Game of Thrones landscape (used in the TV drama series) has this message for budding street artists:
The police must verify it is Bowen’s signature. Investigations are ongoing. Why does all this remind me of Inspector Montalbano?
“Always sign your work. Don’t chase the money, let it come to you. Try and find random locations. Start off with the most easy, safe location... somewhere hidden, and once you’ve done that, do public walkways or parks. Once you step up the game, find more dangerous spots that can get you arrested.”
Arrested? In Malta, the swamp of the Mediterranean where the rule of law, faith in institutions and trust in the police have imploded?
Well, it could have been someone pretending to be Bowen who spray-painted the rock in a picturesque little corner of Xlendi Bay, says a voice. Really?
Yes, and the police must verify that it is Bowen’s signature. Investigations are ongoing. Why does all this remind me of Inspector Montalbano?
While the Malta Police were supposed to be investigating this case, the London Evening Standard rang up Bowen’s mum for a cordial chat. Perhaps our police detectives should try contacting his artist buddy and occasional collaborator Steve McCracken who might have a clue where to find him.
McCracken’s art, by the way, is softer on the eye. He paints birds on walls. Malta could get him to splash a few flamingos around - make it a building permit condition. He’d find plenty of work here.
The police could also check if the signed Gozo ‘artwork’ is now available as a clock, mug or coaster on the website where Bowen peddles his wares.
In an inner city setting this street artist is mostly tolerated. Yet, as someone remarked of the Kantra Valley defilement, “I can see the art but I can’t see the street”.
Well, what will 184 online comments from keyboard warriors achieve?
Walking beneath the tower at Exiles in Sliema last Sunday, I noticed two children under the approving watch of a nearby parent, wielding hammers and chisels. They were chipping away at the smooth limestone rock, just for the hell of it.
In such cases the police should be called. Also the Superintendance of Cultural Heritage if fossils are being removed (which was not the case). The Environment and Resources Authority should also respond to calls seven days a week on 2292 3500.
Every one of us must now take up the baton to make our institutions accountable and press our enforcers of the law to enforce it to the hilt.
This column is dedicated to my friend and colleague Daphne, RIP.