Lithuanian Street Artist Creates Colorful Mural Depicting Putin-Trump Kiss

The work is titled, 'Make Everything Great Again.'

A woman walks past a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Photo Petras Malukas /AFP/Getty Images.

A new mural of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, locked in a sloppy kiss, is going viral. The painting is located on the side of a restaurant called Keule Ruke in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius.

Mindaugas Bonanu, a Lithuanian street artist and graphic designer, is behind the project, reports the Baltic TimesHe recently unveiled the work, titled, “Make Everything Great Again,” with the help of the barbecue restaurant’s owner, Dominykas Ceckauskas. “We saw similarities between the two heroes (Trump and Putin),” Ceckauskas said in a statement. He added: “They both have an ego that is too big and it is funny that they get along well.”

Ceckauskas, of course, is taking his cue after the political figures’ very public bromance. When prompted to comment on Putin during a FOX News interview last year, Trump described Russia’s president as a “respected leader,” adding that “he’s tough and he’s making [President Obama] look very bad.”

Last December, the Russian president offered Trump a warm endorsement, stating in an impromptu video interview: “He’s a very colorful person. Talented, without any doubt.” And while Putin did not comment on the Republican candidate’s political credentials, he did praise Trump’s desire to foster “more solid, deeper relations with Russia.”

The portrait articulates a tender physical exchange reminiscent of Dmitri Vrubel’s 1990 graffiti work, My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love. The world-renowned street art project in Berlin draws its inspiration from a photograph of communist leader Erich Honecker and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

As the Washington Post notes, this Putin-Trump scene is a nod to the fraternal kiss that served as a customary greeting among male socialist leaders.

If anything, Lithuania’s strained relations with neighboring Russia positions Bonanu’s portrait as a clear indication that the Lithuanian population is following the US presidential election just as closely.


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics