The Instagram account of Lushsux, a popular Australian street artist, has been deleted after he shared a photo of his latest mural depicting Hillary Clinton in a revealing stars and stripes monokini. The picture was removed without warning after it went viral last week.
The artist, who had 107,000 followers on his old Instagram account, told Daily Mail Australia in an e-mail: “I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist with a tin foil hat but the timing of the Hillary Clinton mural posting and the deletion that ensued can’t just be a coincidence.”
Lushsux had allegedly posted photos of previous similar murals featuring Republican candidate Donald Trump without any repercussion from Instagram, suggesting a political bias from Instagram when it comes to censorship.
Hillary Clinton mural in Melbourne by Lushsux. Photo via Lushsux’s Instagram.
Lushsux, who’s no stranger to controversy, is known for his provocative murals of prominent figures ranging from Donald and Melania Trump to Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift.
Some of Lushsux’s political murals include a painting of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sharing a romantic kiss, as well as a large mural of Trump’s model wife Melania depicted in all her topless glory. Because of past censorship issues, the artist recounts on his new Instagram account that after much controversy he decided to censor the Melania mural himself, painting two Donald Trump faces over her bare breasts.
This latest controversy follows a string of politically inspired murals and street art around the world responding to the upcoming presidential election in the US, which will take place on November 8.
Following Hillary Clinton’s formal acceptance of her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention, the controversial mural of the Democratic candidate by Lushsux —which he originally captioned “stupid sexy Hillary”—created unease not only on the Internet but also within the city of Melbourne.
According to AFP, the small business in Melbourne that the Hillary Clinton mural is painted on has been asked by the local Maribyrnong Council to remove it. Stephen Wall, the council’s chief, commented to Fairfax Media about the request: “We believe it is offensive because of the depiction of a near-naked woman, not on the basis of disrespect to Hillary Clinton, in accordance with the Graffiti Prevention Act 2007.”
Lushsux responded that the mural was “on par offense-wise” with a deodorant ad.
Not one to be deterred by censorship, on his new Instagram account Lushsux has posted an updated photo of the Hillary Clinton mural with the added touch of US dollars bills stuffed down her bikini, tagging the CEO and co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, with the caption: “@kevin did you donate today?”
He has also posted an even less forgiving version of Illma Gore’s “Naked Donald Trump” portrait, using Hillary Clinton’s face for censorship.