The street artist behind a controversial mural showing Hillary Clinton in a swimsuit has hit out at “petty” local bureaucrats for covering it up.
Lushsux, an artist in Melbourne, Australia, was hit with threats from after emblazoning a busty image of the Democratic nominee on the side of a building.
This was followed by the image being replaced with an enormous black square:
Before:
After:
He spoke out about government efforts to censor him in an interview with Heat Street, which he said proved how supposedly “tolerant and progressive” left-wingers react when their idols are mocked.
Officials on the Maribyrnong Council claimed the racy depiction of Hillary in a stars-and-stripes one-piece bikini was “offensive” – despite taking little issue with a fully nude Donald Trump just across town (scroll down for that).
As Heat Street reported yesterday, Lushsux tried to outmaneuver the officials by painting over Hillary with an Islamic niqab and challenging anybody to find her new look “offensive”:
However, he still found his work painted over with an enormous black square the following day.
In an interview with Heat Street, conducted before the mural was painted over, Lushsux said he assumed his work was not long for this world, and said he was being punished for contravening a pearl-clutching left-wing narrative.
He said: “My guess is the council will remove it, make the owner pay the costs of removal and then fine him as well. Because they are petty.”
When asked whether the continued Trump mural proves his opponents have a double standard, he said: “There is a clear bias, or maybe it’s that now days the left is so vocal in shouting down anything that doesn’t gel with their narrative.
“From the looks of it one of the progressive and tolerant councilors got offended enough to send out their dogs of war to try and intimidate the building owner into removing it.”
Lushsux said the building owner – who agreed to the original mural – was being punished for letting him express himself: “It’s hard enough to run a small business, now he’s got these pathetic council people trying to harass him for something he did out of goodwill- letting an artist express themselves on a boring old brick wall.”
The council’s chief executive – the aptly named Stephen Wall – told the local Star Weekly news site that once the niqab was up the council had no problem with it, and would let it stay.
But Lushsux said he suspects they “leaned on” the real estate agent who operates the store to get it scrubbed anyway, adding that they would be reluctant not to “win by bullying people like they usually do”.