Giant Penis Mural To Be Painted Over After Stiff Resistance From Locals

[Nergal]

 

One could argue the artist got shafted.

A five-story mural of a blue penis painted on a Stockholm apartment building is to be covered up after locals mobilized against it.

The piece, by artist Carolina Falkholt, was up for only a week before neighbors began to take action. The company that owns the block, Atrium Ljungberg, told the local publication Aftonbladet they had received multiple complaints.


Carolina Falkholt's piece is seen in Stockholm, April 11.

“Culture and art are important in developing interesting urban environments,” Camilla Klimt, Atrium Ljungberg’s marketing manager, told Aftonbladet, according to The Guardian. “Of course, we care about artistic freedom. But at the same time, we must respect neighbors’ opinions.”

Klimt added that they would let the penis remain for a short amount of time so others can enjoy the art before it’s painted over.

The company reportedly didn’t know in advance that Falkholt was going to put a massive penis on one of its buildings.

Falkholt’s phallic work has drawn public opprobrium before. In December, her depiction of a giant red penis covered the wall of an apartment building on Broome Street in New York. It was painted over three days later.



Falkholt, who did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, told The Guardian in 2017 that her work is meant to signify not feeling ashamed of our bodies or of sexuality.

“I usually paint giant vaginas, pussies and cunts,” Falkholt told the publication. “And since I had just finished one on the side of a five-story building, I felt like a dick was needed. The wall space on Broome was a perfect fit for it. To paraphrase [the artist] Judith Bernstein, if a dick can go into a woman, it can go up on a wall.”