It arrived at the European Parliament on Monday morning, covered with an orange cloth.
On Tuesday afternoon in Strasbourg, it was unveiled: a golden statue of Donald Trump, naked, about 2.6 meters tall and covered in 23-karat gold leaf. The work by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt is called “The Orange Plague” (also “King of Injustice”) and depicts the U.S. president sitting on the shoulders of a much smaller man, with a long golf club in his hand.
Beside the sculpture is a message in the first person from the “king of injustice” himself: “I am sitting on a man’s back. He sinks under my weight. I will do anything to help him. Except get off his back”.
The exhibition is organized by Danish MEP Per Clausen, of the The Left group, who says that people cannot live in fear or self-censorship. In his view, anyone so sensitive that they cannot bear to see this work exhibited in the European Parliament has no place on the world stage.
The statue has already been shown at COP30 in Brazil and in Munich, and will be on display until Thursday. Art that deliberately makes people uncomfortable, or unnecessary provocation?
