Andy Warhol’s pop art piece “Campbell’s Soup I” got hit amid the latest climate stunt.
An Australian activist group spray-painted a protective barrier in front of the bottom row of the Warhol work at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra Tuesday. The protesters also tried gluing themselves to the art.
“Andy Warhol depicted consumerism gone mad in this iconic series. And now we have capitalism gone mad,” protester Bonnie Cassen, one of two Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies members involved in the Tuesday stunt, said in a statement, adding, “Families are having to choose between medicine and food for their children while fossil fuel companies return record profits. And yet our government gives $22,000 a minute in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.”
The stunt was short-lived. After being confronted by security, the protesters fled, the glue on their hands not having enough time to set and stick, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Neither Ms. Cassen nor the other protester was detained.
The group posted videos of the protest amid a series of tweets, one of which played up the scribbles. The group wrote, “The writing is on the wall! Or the glass at least. #StopFossilFuelSubsidies now! Get the ’Picture’?!”
The museum, wanting to give the incident no further attention, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., “A protest has taken place at the National Gallery of Australia following similar incidents elsewhere in Australia and overseas.”
The bottom row of the piece has since been cleaned and displayed in the gallery.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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