Climate Activists Embrace Suffragette Tactics to Target Art: Insights from an Artist

Protesters are targeting famous paintings to bring attention to the climate crisis. Artist Alex Margo Arden believes this method is effective. She compares these modern actions to those of the Suffragettes, who used dramatic tactics to fight for women’s rights.

Arden’s new exhibition, Safety Curtain, opens this week at Auto Italia in East London. She highlights how damaging protected artworks sparks public conversations about climate change. “These actions definitely raise awareness,” she says. However, she notes that awareness does not always translate to support.

Many recent protests have involved throwing food at paintings, causing what Arden calls “symbolic damage.” For example, a Monet was daubed with red paint in Stockholm, another was covered with mashed potatoes in Germany, and activists threw tomato soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in London. While Just Stop Oil was behind the incident at the National Gallery, Arden’s artwork examines protests across Europe from various groups, including Letzte Generation and Ultima Generazione.

In her work, Arden uses “evidence recovery,” where she collects images from different angles of these protests. She then paints from these composite images, recreating the food-based damage. One striking piece captures the moment when a protester smeared the Mona Lisa with a pastry. The series includes three paintings showing the event from different perspectives, illustrating how galleries often try to erase the impact of these protests quickly.

Arden also features Diego Velázquez’s The Toilet of Venus, which climate activists targeted last year. This choice is significant; it recalls Mary Richardson, a Suffragette who attacked the same painting in 1914. While Richardson caused severe damage, today’s protests lean toward symbolic gestures.

This exhibit is Arden’s debut, and it arrives at a time of rising tensions around climate change, particularly as protests continue in various forms. She believes everyone should agree on the seriousness of climate issues. “Art can provoke thought, and it’s essential for the conversation to continue,” she says. “But what comes next? That’s the big question.”

Safety Curtain opens on January 16 at Auto Italia in Bethnal Green and will run until March 23, 2025.