Street Art Removed From London During Olympics
Street artists say 'Beijing was more open-minded'.
London is famed for its street art but authorities have been accused of a heavy-handed approach to cleaning up art during the Olympics.
Street artist James Cochran, Aka Jimmy C with his latest piece of work, depicting the face of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt
James Cochran, whose vivid mural of the world's fastest man Usain Bolt beams over an east London car park, said he was careful to seek official approval before shaking the first aerosol can. The British-Australian artist told AFP: "They said, 'By the way, don't touch the Olympic rings - there's very strict copyright control on that'. They're getting a bit authoritarian. The Olympic Committee have got to be careful that they don't infringe on freedom of expression. Sometimes you think, 'Jeez, Beijing was more open-minded.'"
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
I wonder...I bet you could put symbols of freedom, particularly freedom of expression into circles with lines through them...and then arrange five of those circles into a certain shape...
Would be a heck of a protest image...