Rome, Europe Brief News – Climate activists from the group Last Generation have thrown flour over an Andy Warhol artwork in Milan.
Four activists from the Last Generation group poured eight kilos (17.6 pounds) of flour over the colourful 1979 BMW M1 on display at the Fabbrica del Vapore, a cultural centre hosting a retrospective of the pop-art master.
Two of them glued themselves to the piece, while the rest blew up paint balloons on the ground.
🇮🇹Climate activists from the group Last Generation have thrown flour over an Andy Warhol artwork in Milan.
They're calling for urgent climate action to address the climate crisis.
Two of them glued themselves to the piece, while the rest blew up paint balloons on the ground. pic.twitter.com/e5IBDWs1eE
— Euronews Green (@euronewsgreen) November 18, 2022
The act came as part of environmental protests demanding action on climate change.
“Works of art have been targeted in order to highlight the hypocrisy of our society’s values: do we really get outraged at the simulation of damage to works of art while the ongoing objective destruction of works of nature, ecosystems and our own lives leaves us indifferent?” wrote Last Generation in a statement.
The gesture proved divisive, with many in the art world—and beyond—decrying the protest for a spread of reasons.
Similar gestures were also seen in the UK over the past few weeks, where climate activists have repeatedly sought to push the government to respond more quickly to the destruction of the natural environment.
Their tactics have often involved gluing themselves to artworks, usually without any damage to the pieces themselves. Their protests have inspired similar ones in Italy and Australia.
