Photo: via Electreunleashed.fr
French porn star and far-right political activist Electre has vandalized a mural by French street artist Combo with far-right slogans in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, Le Figaro reports.
The mural, commissioned by a state-funded public art committee, depicts a haloed and helmeted Joan of Arc holding a red flag with the words “liberté, egalité, humanité,” a riff on France’s national motto, coined during the Revolution. Next to her is the far-right slogan “La France aux Français” (“France for the French”), written in black, crossed out in red, with “Les Françaises aux Africains” (The French (women) to Africans”) written underneath.
Combo’s mural pre-vandalization.
Photo: Combo Culture Kidnapper via Facebook
The intentionally-provocative mural was painted on June 14, and was quickly controversial, on display for less than two days before political opponents vandalized it. On June 15, two men flung gray paint at the mural, covering the phrase “Les Frainçaises aux Africains.”
On June 17, Electre uploaded a video to her YouTube channel of herself spray-painting the phrases “antiracism is the codeword for antiwhite,” “collabos,” and “résistance” across the mural in blue. The vandalism happened in broad daylight, and Electre took full ownership of her actions, signing the mural and posing in front of it, before being confronted by passersby and patrons from a nearby restaurant.
Combo posted this photo of his mural being vandalized to his Facebook page.
Photo: Combo Culture Kidnapper via Facebook
The next day, an anonymous graffitist sprayed an anti-black slogan across the mural in orange. In France, contemporary art and politics have a complex, volatile relationship ranging from petty offense to deadly violence.
The same day of Electre’s video upload, Combo posted a photo of the adult actress caught in the act (of graffiti) to his Facebook page with the caption “Voila, la fresque a été detruite par les militants du fn #autodafe” (Voila, the mural was destroyed by supporters of the fn #autodafe). FN refers to France’s National Front party.
Electre posing in front of Combo’s mural after vandalizing it.
Photo: via Elektreunleashed.fr
“The goal was to make people from the far right react, and it certainly worked,” he told the AFP. “If these militants had ignored me, they would have been smarter than me, but they fell for it.”
Combo’s oeuvre is marked by its pacifist yet provocative, leftist political stance. It is not the first time he has attracted backlash from the far-right, and he told Le Figaro that he expected vandalism on this mural.
Watch Electre’s video below: