The work, which was covered with paint on Sunday, is at the heart of a lively controversy carried by associations for the defense of the rights of the child and an elected member of the National Rally.
A controversy that resulted in a wide stain. The work Fuck Abstraction! by artist Miriam Cahn, exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, was degraded on Sunday May 7 in the afternoon, as noted by franceinfo. Part of the painting, which was not protected by glass, was sprayed with paint. A man, former elected member of the National Front (ex-National Rally), was placed in police custody for “degradation of exposed cultural property”, according to a source familiar with the matter at France Inter. The ransacking of the painting comes after several weeks of debate around the reception of this work of contemporary art, produced to denounce the atrocities of war. Franceinfo summarizes the stakes of this controversy in six questions.
1 What does it represent?
This painting, produced by the Swiss artist Miriam Cahn, is presented from February 17 until May 14 by the Palais de Tokyo as part of the exhibition “My serial thought”. This is the first major retrospective devoted to the artist’s work in a French institution, specifies the contemporary art center. Among nearly 200 works displayed in different rooms of the museum is Fuck abstraction!which denounces the atrocities of war. We see a man with a large body, faceless, who imposes fellatio on a victim of slender corpulence, on his knees, his hands tied behind his back.
2 Why is this work controversial?
The controversy concerns the very interpretation of the painting. The silhouette of the victim depicted, thin and small, has led many observers to see in it the representation of the rape of a child, assaulted by an adult. Associations for the defense of children’s rights and political representatives then deplored the “child pornography” Artwork. A online petition quickly emerged. It was launched by a collective called “Contre-Attack” and asks for the dropout of the painting, while regretting a “sliding towards democratization and acceptance of this kind of practice”. It has garnered over 14,000 signatures to date.
The controversy took a political turn when, on March 21, RN deputy Caroline Parmentier called on the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak at the National Assembly to also demand the removal of the work. “This painting represents a child, on his knees, tied up with his hands behind his back, forced to perform fellatio by an adult”, she had denounced in the Hemicycle. As of March 17, the parliamentarian had also filmed herself in front of the work before posting the video on Twitter. “In the name of child protection, as a member of the delegation for children’s rights, I ask the Minister of Culture that he be taken down.she insisted.
In the process, on March 21, the Observatory of creative freedom published a press release supporting the artist and regretting a debate “which has already crossed two centuries” And “which has always concluded in the disrepute of the censors”. A group of twenty-six heads of museums and institutions also published a column in The worldApril 8, to take the side of the freedom of artists. “Rather than being afraid of shocking, we should be afraid of never shocking. Because, yes, art shocks. Disturbs. Denounces. Disturbs. Questions”they write.
3 What is the meaning of this table?
Miriam Cahn and the Palais de Tokyo ensure that no child is represented. “This painting is about how sexuality is used as a weapon of war, as a crime against humanity”detailed the artist in a press release published by the museum. “The contrast between the two bodies depicts the bodily power of the oppressor and the fragility of the oppressed kneeling and emaciated by war”, she says. Explanations also presented on a panel, placed next to the work.
Still according to the artist and the museum, the painting was made during the war in Ukraine and after the dissemination of images from the mass grave of Boutcha. “Miriam Cahn reacts on the spot to the violence of these images which circulated on social networks and went around the world”can we read during the exhibition.
On March 7, the Palais de Tokyo said to itself “aware” that the artistic approach of the artist can “generate misunderstandings” and announced that it would strengthen its mediation system. Given the “sensitive nature of the work”a warning sign is present at the beginning of the exhibition and unaccompanied minors cannot access Fuck Abstraction!.
4 What does the court say?
Several associations for the defense of children’s rights, including Jurists for Children, Childhood and Sharing, Facing Incest and Innocence in Danger, have seized the administrative court for interim measures, an emergency procedure to demand the dropout of the Board. “We are not attacking the artist on his freedom of expression, but the Palais de Tokyo exposing minors to child pornography content”justified the association Faced with incest in a press release.
On March 27, the Paris administrative court dismissed these associations, finding that “the work cannot (…) be understood outside of its context and the work of the artist Miriam Cahn which aims to denounce the horrors of war, as recalled in the presentation document of the event distributed to the public”can we read in the opinion issued by the institution.
A decision “which opens the door to all excesses”, according to those responsible for Facing Incest. The association appealed to the Council of State. The appeal was in turn dismissed on April 14. THE judge considered that “the hanging of the painting ‘Fuck abstraction!’ at the Palais de Tokyo (…) does not seriously and unlawfully harm the best interests of the child or the dignity of the human person”.
5 What is the link with the RN?
A few hours after the degradation of the painting, the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, went there to see the damage. With franceinfo, she immediately denounced “the instrumentalization” of this affair by the far right, referring to the position taken by MP Caroline Parmentier a few weeks earlier.
“If it hadn’t been for this huge controversy on purpose from the RN, we wouldn’t be here. We really have the true face of the National Rally.”
Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culturewith franceinfo
A challenge all the more assumed whatman suspected of having degrade the table is a former elected member of the National Front (the former name of the far-right party), learned franceinfo from concordant sources, confirming information from the World. This is Pierre Chassin, 80, elected municipal FN in Mureaux (Yvelines) and community advisor until 2015.
Questioned by Sud Radio on Tuesday, Marine Le Pen, president of the RN group in the National Assembly, denied any responsibility for these degradations. “You cannot be held responsible for an individual act of someone who was a municipal councilor eight years ago”she assured, adding that the author of the degradation is no longer a member of the party. “He was wrong to do so”she added.
6 What will become of the damaged work?
After this degradation, the Palace of Tokyo announced Tuesday leave the painting as it is until the end of the exhibition on May 14. Ihe president of the museum, Guillaume Désanges, also explained the absence of protective glass on this painting despite the controversy: “We had decided with the artist that there was no particular physical protection of the work”he said Monday on French Culture. “There is in Miriam Cahn’s work precisely this idea of the work’s vulnerability. The Palais de Tokyo is not a fortress.” Since its launch on February 17, the exhibition has attracted 80,000 visitors.