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Art student plans to vomit on paintings
Ann Stack
Issue date: 12/2/96 Section: Arts
- Page 1 of 1
TORONTO (AP) -- A Canadian art student says he can't
stomach some of the art world's masterpieces. So, he is on a
mission to publicly vomit on at least three of the paintings
-- each time in a primary color.
Jubal Brown of Ontario College of Art and Design
fortified himself with blue gelatin and cake icing on Nov. 2
before throwing up on "Composition in Red, White and Blue"
by Piet Mondrian at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
He spewed red on Raoul Dufy's "Harbour at le Havre" at
the Art Gallery of Ontario in May.
He said he plans to gush yellow on an as-yet
unannounced target.
The 22-year-old student said that the paintings are
"stale, obedient, lifeless crusts." His intention: "To
destroy art, to liberate individuals and living creatures
from its banal, oppressive representation."
He claims he needed no inducement to heave on the Dutch
master's work in New York, which he called a typically
geometric canvas.
"I found its lifelessness threatening and it made me
sick," he said.
Neither of the paintings defiled so far has suffered
permanent damage and Brown has not been arrested.
Shortly after the New York attack, museum spokesman
John Wolfe was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "It
was an unfortunate incident, a fluke."
Glenn Lowry, director of the New York museum, has been
in touch with the Ontario museum since then and the two
museums have begun an investigation, the (Toronto) Globe and
Mail reported Saturday.
The Ontario museum said in a statement Friday that it
had only just realized the Dufy attack was a deliberate act,
and that it is now considering legal action against Brown.
The museum had no further comment.
No one could be immediately reached at the New York
museum.
Brown said a group of 15 friends accompanied him on his
Ontario mission, but that the New York incident was
witnessed mostly by startled gallery patrons.
Brown said he was interrogated by museum officials and
New York police after the Mondrian attack, and that he had
explained his project.
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stomach some of the art world's masterpieces. So, he is on a
mission to publicly vomit on at least three of the paintings
-- each time in a primary color.
Jubal Brown of Ontario College of Art and Design
fortified himself with blue gelatin and cake icing on Nov. 2
before throwing up on "Composition in Red, White and Blue"
by Piet Mondrian at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
He spewed red on Raoul Dufy's "Harbour at le Havre" at
the Art Gallery of Ontario in May.
He said he plans to gush yellow on an as-yet
unannounced target.
The 22-year-old student said that the paintings are
"stale, obedient, lifeless crusts." His intention: "To
destroy art, to liberate individuals and living creatures
from its banal, oppressive representation."
He claims he needed no inducement to heave on the Dutch
master's work in New York, which he called a typically
geometric canvas.
"I found its lifelessness threatening and it made me
sick," he said.
Neither of the paintings defiled so far has suffered
permanent damage and Brown has not been arrested.
Shortly after the New York attack, museum spokesman
John Wolfe was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "It
was an unfortunate incident, a fluke."
Glenn Lowry, director of the New York museum, has been
in touch with the Ontario museum since then and the two
museums have begun an investigation, the (Toronto) Globe and
Mail reported Saturday.
The Ontario museum said in a statement Friday that it
had only just realized the Dufy attack was a deliberate act,
and that it is now considering legal action against Brown.
The museum had no further comment.
No one could be immediately reached at the New York
museum.
Brown said a group of 15 friends accompanied him on his
Ontario mission, but that the New York incident was
witnessed mostly by startled gallery patrons.
Brown said he was interrogated by museum officials and
New York police after the Mondrian attack, and that he had
explained his project.
Back to Arts & Entertainment page