Image via Complex Original
Throughout history, artists have been prosecuted, arrested, jailed, and discriminated against for their art. An artist's ability and right to express his or herself through a chosen medium is one we should cherish. Yet, many countries, including America, don't see it that way. Here, we look at artists across time and place who have been persecuted for their creations. They have been arrested, jailed, and exiled due to their beliefs and how they express them. From illegal graffiti writers to political dissidents, here are 20 Artists Who Were Arrested for Their Art.
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Chris Burden
Year arrested: 1972
In 1972, artist Chris Burden rose to infamy due to his shocking “sculpture” of a crime scene. Using a cadaver, Burden set up what looked like an automobile accident. Visitors were treated to the tragic scene, and Burden was ultimately arrested for sparking a false emergency.
Jean Toche
Year arrested: 1974
In 1974 the co-founder of the Guerrilla Art Action Group sent fliers to various museums and galleries around New York, criticizing their exclusionary nature. Toche's main mistake was to suggest that the curators and directors of the museums and galleries be kidnapped, which was taken as a threat and led to his arrest.
Kenny Scharf
Year arrested: 1982, 2013
Graffiti artist Kenny Scharf has been arrested multiple times for his work: first in New York City in 1982, when he was in his 20s, and recently in April 2013, at the age of 55. Scharf spoke candidly about his ordeal and said that the main difference between being arrested now and 30 years ago was, in the more recent arrest, police actually appreciated his work and knew who Banksy was.
Spencer Tunick
Year arrested: 1999
Spencer Tunick is known for more than 75 installations of nude crowds all over the world. Tunick has been arrested over five times since the 1990s. His most recent arrest, however, has led to a ruling in his favor. The US Supreme Court ruled that his work was protected under the First Amendment although New York has not made it easy for Tunick to gain permits to shoot his work in the city.
M.F. Husain
Year arrested: 2004
Although M.F. Husain was one of India's oldest and most famous artists, he was banished from his own country. In 2004, Husain received many death threats from right-wing Hindu activists upset about his portrayal of Hindu gods and goddesses. He was arrested for "hurting the sentiments of the people," and these threats and charges forced the artist into exile.
Sofles
Year arrested: 2009
Internationally renowned Austrian graffiti artist Sofles, aka Russell Fenn, pled guilty in 2009 for 37 counts of willful damage between 2005 and 2007. Fenn was able to avoid jail time by agreeing to serve probation, do community service, and to help the police's graffiti task force with "understanding the mindset" of other street artists. Many other artists are outraged by his actions and consider his compliance with the authorities a betrayal of the graffiti community.
Jafar Panahi
Year arrested: 2009
In 2009, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was arrested and convicted of campaigning against the Iranian government through his films, including The Circle and Offside. Panahi's films criticize the treatment of women in Iran. For his outspoken opinions, he was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from all filmmaking and interviews in Iran for 20 years.
Dhondup Wangchen
Year arrested: 2009
In 2009, Dhondup Wangchen and Jiame Gyatso (a senior monk) were arrested and detained in China for their film on Tibet. Wangchen's work was a short documentary film entitled Leaving Fear Behind about contemporary Tibet and its unjust treatment at the hands of Chinese authorities. The New York Times called Wangchen's work "an unadorned indictment of the Chinese government."
Belarus Free Theater
Year arrested: 2010
Founded in 2005, the Belarusian performance group Belarus Free Theater set out to promote artistic expression in the face of the country's censorship laws. The company was arrested after authorities discovered they were performing a piece based on the state's sanctioned disappearances.
Julie Torres
Year arrested: 2010
In 2010, artist Julie Torres was arrested for vandalism. Ironically, Torres is not a graffiti artist, but a watercolor painter, and she was not vandalizing property but in fact painting on paper temporarily taped up to a wall outside. Her ordeal was frustrating and unfair to say the least.
Owen Maseko
Year arrested: 2010
In 2010, African artist Owen Maseko exhibited paintings criticizing Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. Once Mugabe found out, he shut down Maseko's exhibition and arrested the artist. If convicted Maseko could face up to 20 years in prison for questioning the president's authority.
Enrique Gomez De Molina
Year arrested: 2011
Maybe the most founded arrested on our list, Enrique Gomez De Molina creates sculptures out of taxidermied animals. He has imported endangered animals from many countries in Asia, as well as Bali and the Philippines, to create his pieces. Molina was arrested and charged in 2011 with importing animal parts from Indonesia. He lists his work for upwards of $80,000.
Revok
Year arrested: 2011
Revok, aka Jason Williams, is an artist whose work has been displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, yet he has been arrested for vandalism multiple times, both within the US and abroad. In 2011, he was arrested by police while trying to board a plane to Ireland at LAX because he had failed to pay damages to the victims of his vandalism.
Ai Weiwei
Year arrested: 2011
Ai Weiwei is known as both an artist and a political dissident. Ai has clashed with authorities over his art, often poignant commentaries on the Chinese government, multiple times. In 2011, he was arrested and imprisoned for 81 days under questionable charges in China.
Invader
Years arrested: 2011, 2013
French street artist Invader creates mosaic installations. His work is inspired by 1970s and '80s videogames, using titles (reminiscent of pixels) to create his pieces. Invader has been arrested in both LA (2011) and in New York (2013) for his illegal installations.
Alexander Schaefer
Year arrested: 2012
In 2012, artist Alexander Schaefer was arrested in Los Angeles for misdemeanor vandalism after he wrote "CROOKS" and "CRIME" in chalk outside a Chase Bank. It was not the artist's first encounter with the police. In 2011 he stood in front of a Chase Bank in Van Nuys, LA and painted a picture of the bank burning. Police came to the scene after calls that Schaefer might be a terrorist.
Essam Attia
Year arrested: 2012
In 2012, Iraq War veteran Essam Attia replaced over 100 advertisements around midtown Manhattan with posters shunning the NYPD and their anti-civilian tactics. Attia was arrested later that year and charged with 56 counts of possession of a forged instrument, grand larceny, possession of stolen property, and weapons possession.
Takeshi Miyakawa
Year arrested: 2012
New York artist and designer Takeshi Miyakawa thought he was paying tribute to his city by installing plastic bags illuminated with LED lights on trees and poles around the city. However, authorities saw the work another way. In 2012, Miyakawa was arrested for reckless endangerment and planting a fake bomb.
Maximo Caminero
Year arrested: 2014
Earlier this year, Miami-based artist Maximo Caminero visited the “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” exhibition at Miami’s Pérez Art Museum and destroyed a piece of the Chinese artist’s work, a painted vase. Caminero said that he smashed the vase in protest against the museum’s choice to exhibit international stars instead of local artists' work. Although he claimed that the action was a work of performance art, he was arrested and charged with criminal mischief.
Judith Supine
Year arrested: 2014
Earlier this year Judith Supine, aka Brandon Fagan, was arrested for criminal trespass and reckless endangerment for climbing the Queensboro Bridge in New York and hanging his work. The artist has climbed two of the city's other bridges as well to install his work: the Manhattan Bridge in 2007 and the Williamsburg Bridge in 2009.