Climate protesters glue themselves to Andy Warhol artworks in Canberra

Climate protesters have been filmed vandalising Andy Warhol paintings at the National Art Gallery in Canberra today.

Climate protesters on Wednesday glued themselves to Andy Warhol artworks at the National Art Gallery in Canberra in a stunt that mirrors demonstrations around the world.

Two woman were filmed scrawling on the “Campbells Soup I” painting with blue markers. In the footage, shared by the Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies group, the women use an adhesive to glue their hands to the painting.

A security guard who responds can be heard calling for help.

“Code 1 incident,” he says a number of times.

The anti-fossil fuels group shared the footage on social media with the message: “The writing is on the wall! Or the glass at least.”

Bonnie Cassen, an activist linked to the group, shared a statement on Wednesday.

“Andy Warhol depicted consumerism gone mad in this iconic series,” she said.

“And now we have capitalism gone mad. Families are having to choose between medicine and food for their children while fossil fuel companies return record profits.”

The writing is on the wall! Or the glass at least. #StopFossilFuelSubsidies now! Get the “Picture?!#Warhol exhibition at the Australian National Gallery @NatGalleryAus Canberra#A22Network#ClimateCrisis#ArtProtest#StopFFSubsidies#AusPol2022@[e-mail]/yl99h0DoYo

— Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies (@stopffsubsidies) November 9, 2022

The protesters, along with the bottom row of the famous artwork, was removed by staff.

In a statement, the National Gallery acknowledged the incident and said police were involved.

“A protest has taken place at the National Gallery of Australia following similar incidents here and overseas.

“In co-operation with the Australian Federal Police, we are assessing the incident and will release a statement in due course.”

The activism follows a trend that made headlines when a climate activists smeared cake on the Mona Lisa inside The Louvre in Paris.

Months later, a similar stunt took place in Melbourne where protesters glued themselves to a Picasso painting at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting was also targeted last month in London by Just Stop Oil protesters.

The Canberra incident coincides with the UN’s climate change summit which opened in Egypt this week.

More than 120 world leaders are attending, but Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is not among them.