Melbourne: A Melbourne-based street artist had covered a provocative mural he painted of US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton following public decency complaints against him.
The artist was threatened with a council fine after which he responded by covering the painting with a niqab.
Maribyrnong council took issue with the original mural, which depicted Hillary Clinton wearing a revealing swimsuit with $100 notes tucked into it.
The council said residents complained about the piece, which was painted on to the side wall of a scooter shop in Footscray, 5-km west of Melbourne.
The council also later released a statement which said the mural contravened its gender equity policy.
“We believe that this mural is offensive because of the depiction of a near-naked woman, not on the basis of disrespect to Hillary Clinton, and it is not in keeping with our stance on gender equity,” the council chief executive, Stephen Wall, said.
With the council threatening the owner of the building with prosecution and a fine if the mural was not removed, the artist, known as Lushsux, had his Instagram account deleted after posting the image to the social media platform.
However instead of removing the mural, Lushsux covered up the swimsuit by painting a niqab over the top of it, leaving only Clinton’s eyes showing. Next to his work, he painted the message: “If this Muslim woman offends u, u r a bigot, racist, sexist Islamophobe.”
This is no longer a wall of a supposed "offensive and near naked" Hillary Clinton, a beautiful Muslim woman. pic.twitter.com/M7Uzr4gqBC
— LUSHSUX (@lushsux) August 1, 2016
Watch the artist covering the provocative mural with a niqab here.
The council threatened @lushsux with a fine if he didn't remove his mural of Hilary. This was his response.Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Wb7VVT6szk
— streetartglobe (@streetartglobe) August 1, 2016
