Anish Kapoor Sculpture Censored—In Gold

September 24, 2015, 1:40pm

Dirty Corner Transformed #GoldAgainstViolence #AnishKapoor #DirtyCorner #Versailles against #Antisemitism #Racism

A photo posted by Anish Kapoor (@dirty_corner) on Sep 23, 2015 at 11:51am PDT

The anti-semitic graffiti adorning Anish Kapoor‘s controversial Dirty Corner sculpture at Versailles (interpreted by some as “the Queen’s vagina”), has been covered up. In an effort to turn the negative language into something positive, Kapoor revealed he has coated the vandalized areas of the sculpture in gold leaf, an intervention he says is his “royal response.”

The Art Newspaper and other sources have reported that the guilding was spurred by a court order issued against the artist and Chateau de Versailles President Catherine Pegard over the weekend. However, Kapoor took to Instagram to deny this interpretation of events. “I was NOT sited in this litigation [sic],” he says next to a photo of the semi-guilded sculpture.

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“Furthermore this judgement has no effect on me or my ability to modify the sculpture as I see fit, as the author of the work. As a matter of record I have made it clear from the start of these sad events that it was always my intention to transform the racist messages of hate inflicted on the work into something positive. For that reason I will not allow the proceedings initiated by the French politicians of the extreme right to impose this decision on me.”

Dirty Corner. The racists in France have won a court judgement forcing the racist graffiti to be covered, blaming the artist and Versailles for inseminating racist propaganda. It is as if a woman is raped and blamed for her own rape. WE WILL FIGHT THIS. THE RACISTS CANNOT WIN. JOIN US. #AnishKapoor #DirtyCorner #Racism #Antisemitism #Disgrace #Versailles

A photo posted by Anish Kapoor (@dirty_corner) on Sep 20, 2015 at 12:56am PDT

The French words painted on to the artwork translate to phrases like, “Christ is King in Versailles” and “disgust, dishonour, treason, Satanism,” interpreted as assaults on Kapoor’s Jewish heritage. This is the third such incident of graffiti, and Kapoor initially stated that he hoped to leave them as is to put the racism on display. In an interview about his decision to gild the vandalism with French newspaper Le Figaro, Kapoor says, “I think I’ve found the royal response.”

Kapoor has said that French President François Hollande backs his desire to leave the graffiti visible. Now he’s adopting an “active, not reactive” response to the situation. “To be clear I have, as planned before the passing of this misguided judgement, started a program of work to transform the signs of hate on the sculpture into a new form,” he continues on Instagram. “I will continue this work. This appears to me to be the best response to these despicable acts.”