They also put a white T-shirt on the rider of the Horse and Rider statue Friday that read, “We have 858 days left.” According to the activists, this is intended to draw attention to the time left to avert a climate catastrophe. “Please act, react,” demanded the “Dernière Rénovation” movement.
“The climate conferences will not save us, everyone knows that. Civil resistance is our only hope,” the activists wrote about the action. “Eco-vandalism goes into the next round: an unprotected sculpture by Charles Ray was sprayed with paint in Paris. Many thanks to the restorers who intervened quickly,” said France’s Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak, who inspected the cleaning of the work of art. Apparently the color could be easily removed. “Art and ecology are not opposites. Rather, they are common concerns,” said the minister. Climate activists are currently making headlines with adhesive campaigns or attacks on works of art.
Charles Ray is one of America’s most important sculptors. The statue has stood in front of the Pinault Museum in the old stock exchange in central Paris since the beginning of the year. A retrospective was dedicated to his work there until the summer.
Source: Nachrichten
