Nude Performance Artist Milo Moiré Arrested in Paris

Controversial performance artist Milo Moiré took selfies with tourists for her latest work. Photo courtesy of Milo Moiré.

Naked performance artist Milo Moiré is back. This time, the controversial Swiss artist’s performance entailed taking selfies with tourists in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and it landed her in jail. Moiré spent the night in lockup on charges of public indecency.

The artist set up her camera on a tripod in front of the tourist attraction and approached strangers, inviting them to pose for photographs with her. She recently did the same performance in Basel, Switzerland, during the Art Basel fair. The previous year, she tried to get into the fair naked as a performance, and she crashed a museum show called “the Naked Life” in February.

This time, the performance was cut short when the Parisian gendarmerie ordered her to put her clothes and and took her into custody.

The artist’s manager, Peter Palm, told the Telegraph, “She was taken into custody, had her rights read to her, fingerprints were taken, photographed and detained in a cell.”

Controversial performance artist Milo Moiré took selfies with tourists for her latest work. Photo courtesy of Milo Moiré.

Controversial performance artist Milo Moiré took selfies with tourists for her latest work. Photo courtesy of Milo Moiré.

According to French law, showing genitalia in public carries a maximum sentence of one year behind bars and a fine up to €15,000 ($16,580).

Interestingly, nudity is normally tolerated by French authorities if it is part of a performance. The arrest indicates that France does not view her as a legitimate artist.

Moiré was arrested by French police and charged with public indecency Photo: Blick.ch

Moiré was arrested by French police and charged with public indecency
Photo: Blick.ch

Moiré’s previous antics include squeezing paint-filled eggs onto a canvas with her genitals.

Last year, South African performance artist Steven Cohen was also arrested for sexual exhibitionism following a naked art performance at the Eiffel Tower. He was released without being fined. Luxembourgian performance artist Deborah de Robertis bared it all in 2014, when she exposed her genitals in front of Courbet’s painting The Origin of the World.

The artist got dressed and was led away by officers Photo: Blick.ch

The artist got dressed and was led away by officers
Photo: Blick.ch


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