INFO FRANCEINFO. Miriam Cahn’s work “Fuck Abstraction!”, at the heart of a controversy, was defaced with paint at the Palais de Tokyo

The work Fuck Abstraction! by Miriam Cahn, exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo, was degraded on Sunday May 7 in the afternoon, franceinfo learned. Part of the painting was sprayed with burgundy paint, hidden in a medicine bottle, the Paris art center reported. “We closed the room to the public while waiting to see the follow-up to be given to the future of the work, in consultation with the artist”he specified.

The individual suspected of being at the origin of the degradation is a “older man”, according to our information. He was arrested by security officers at the Palais de Tokyo and then taken away by the police, the museum confirmed. The action has not yet been claimed.

“A direct attack on freedom of expression”

The Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, went there. “It’s a direct attack on freedom of expression, which is quite serious”said the minister. “These works are certainly very hard to look at, but start from an intention which is to denounce the horrors of war”she continued.

Miriam Cahn’s work has been at the heart of a controversy for several weeks. Associations for the defense of the rights of the child had seized the Council of State in mid-April for the painting to be taken down, a request rejected by the institution. For her part, the deputy of the National Rally, Caroline Parmentier, had challenged the Minister of Culture in the National Assembly, describing the painting as “child pornography”.

If the artist and the museum maintain that it is not a child on the painting, a mediation system had been put in place taking into account the “sensitive nature of the work”. Thus, minors could not return without being accompanied by adults.