A Melbourne council says it has received more than 1,000 emails in the past two days regarding a controversial mural showing a bound and gagged woman.
A Los Angeles-based street artist known as Lauren YS painted a building near Cecil Street in Fitzroy, sparking a flurry of complaints.
City of Yarra mayor Stephen Jolly said while it was not council’s role to be “the art police”, the mural had broken the rules.
“They don’t have a planning permit, they’ll be approached about that, they’ll be dealt with in the normal way,” Cr Jolly told ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast.
“We’re going play it with a straight bat.”
Mural provokes overwhelming response
Cr Jolly said he had received more than 1,000 emails in the last 48 hours, with many emails coming from residents around the country and special interest groups.
“Most of them are stock emails, just copy-and-paste emails from people, mainly not in Yarra … organised by Collective Shout which is this NGO that’s against domestic violence,” he said.
“There are a lot of people in Fitzroy that have got a different view, I respect that.“
Lauren YS painted several murals on a recent trip to Melbourne across Fitzroy and Mordialloc. (Instagram)
The mural has been met with a mixed reaction from those living in Fitzroy.
“I definitely think it was done for the reason of stirring a bit of controversy, which is often good for art but maybe not in this way,” one man told ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast.
“I don’t know if sexualised images in front of children’s faces is a good way of stirring controversy.”
But others were more supportive of the artwork.
“I think it’s representing a culture that a lot of people don’t know about, shibari (Japanese rope bondage) is a beautiful art-form that brings intimacy in people,” another man said.
Artist defends work as tribute to ’empowerment’
Lauren YS said in a statement that the work was tame compared to their other work, and was being mischaracterised.
“This mural shows the least amount of skin of any of my murals. Anyone imposing negative narratives onto it is incorrectly assuming its meaning,” they said.
“It is about empowerment and queer selfhood.”
The artist said the location was chosen specifically to avoid foot traffic, and was no more lewd than other storefronts in the area.
“There is a sex shop a few blocks away on a much higher trafficked street with synthetic boobs in the window,” Lauren YS said.
“I would not have painted this in a higher trafficked area.“
The mural has since been defaced by a different graffiti artist. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
In a statement on social media, Collective Shout criticised the work as a “chilling image” that “eroticised violence against women”.
“Responding to objections, the artist defended the mural as ’empowering’ and told objectors to ‘chill’,” the group said.
“But there is nothing “empowering” or subversive about normalising or glamorising violence against women.”
Council has attempted to contact the business where the mural is located, but has been unsuccessful so far.
Cr Jolly said the business would “definitely” receive a fine over the breach in permit laws.
He said while it remained contentious, the issue was in the past as someone had already tagged over the mural.
The ABC has contacted Lauren YS for comment.
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