The Spear (painting)
Artist: Brett Murray
Year: 2012
Date of Action: May 2012
Region: Africa
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Painting
Confronting Bodies: African National Congress (ANC)
Description of Artwork: The painting depicts South African President Jacob Zuma in a classic Lenin pose, but with exposed genitalia.
The Incident: Zuma and his African National Congress sought a court order to have the painting removed from the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg but two men took matters into their own hands by defacing the portrait with gobs of paint.
Zuma, who has a reputation for promiscuity, took the depiction very personally and compared himself to a rape victim. Zuma himself was put on trial for rape, and acquitted, in 2006.
The two unidentified men, who attacked the painting, are expected to appear in a magistrate's court Thursday on a charge of malicious damage to property.
After the painting was defaced, a third man spray-painted the first three letters of the word "respect" on a wall near the gallery's front gate before he was taken away by police. He, too, will be charged with malicious damage to property. The man shouted that the gallery had shown the president disrespect.
Results of Incident: Not provided yet.
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