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Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Controversial mural sparks wave of complaints as business faces fine
A confronting mural showing a bound and gagged woman has sparked outrage, with a Melbourne council receiving over 1,000 complaints in just two days. Los Angeles-based street artist Lauren YS was commissioned to paint the mural on a building near Cecil Street in the hip inner city suburb of Fitzroy. But City of Yarra mayor Stephen Jolly said the mural had broken planning laws and the business behind the mural would be fined as result. 'They don't have a planning permit, they'll be approached about that, they'll be dealt with in the normal way,' Mayor Jolly told ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast. He said the council had received more than 1,000 emails in the last 48 hours from local residents as well as interested parties from around the country. Collective Shout, an NGO against domestic violence and sexual exploitation of women, led a campaign against the mural, but many locals backed the artwork. 'I don't know if sexualised images in front of children's faces is a good way of stirring controversy,' one man told ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast. However, another man said: 'I think it's representing a culture that a lot of people don't know about, shibari (Japanese rope bondage) is a beautiful artform that brings intimacy in people.' Lauran YS said in a statement the work was 'about empowerment and queer selfhood'. The artist said the location was chosen to avoid foot traffic and claimed there was a much higher trafficked street close by 'with synthetic boobs in the window'. The mural was shared by the artist on Instagram, stating the piece was a 'parting gift for Melbourne/for the dolls'. In a statement shared on social media, Collective Shout said the artwork 'eroticised violence against women'. Movement director Melinda Reist said: 'This is porn-themed, adult sexual fetishes imposed on a non-consenting audience. 'It depicts the public humiliation of women at a time when we're expressing concern from rising rates of violence against women.' Yarra Residents' Collective spokesman Adam Promnitz agreed: 'While that artwork may be great in a private space, in the street it is the wrong time and wrong place. 'Families and members of the public should not be subject to X-rated artwork without consent.' The mural has subsequently been defaced by another graffiti artist.
Sydney Morning Herald
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Fitzroy bondage mural outrages activist group, but its defacing upsets admirers
A Fitzroy mural depicting a woman in bondage has been defaced almost as soon as it became enshrouded in controversy, prompting frustration from onlookers who travelled to admire it. The 15-metre wide work, on a building in a quiet bluestone laneway, became the subject of outrage when activist group Collective Shout started a campaign to have it removed and argued it glamorised violence against women. The campaign launched on the weekend and led to Yarra City Council being flooded with more than 1000 complaints, many of which were identical in format. The council has yet to step in, but the majority of the work, by Los Angeles-based artist Lauren YS, has now been painted over with tags. The mural is on the rear of a nondescript commercial property, where no one answered on Monday. Lauren YS said on Instagram they'd named the work Kinbakubi, which translates literally from Japanese to 'the beauty of tight binding'. The artist said it was 'a parting gift for Melbourne' that they were commissioned to paint at a photo studio. On Monday, the handful of people to walk by the laneway during the hour The Age was there had come specifically to see the artwork. Most were saddened to see it ruined. Some pointed out it location, which is just a few minutes' walk from the Lucrezia & De Sade fetish store and sex shop Passionfruit, both in Brunswick Street. Magenta Chello, from Ballarat, arrived with her partner to admire the depiction of the bound and gagged woman as active members of the kink community. She said the painting was 'absolutely beautiful'.
The Age
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Fitzroy bondage mural outrages activist group, but its defacing upsets admirers
A Fitzroy mural depicting a woman in bondage has been defaced almost as soon as it became enshrouded in controversy, prompting frustration from onlookers who travelled to admire it. The 15-metre wide work, on a building in a quiet bluestone laneway, became the subject of outrage when activist group Collective Shout started a campaign to have it removed and argued it glamorised violence against women. The campaign launched on the weekend and led to Yarra City Council being flooded with more than 1000 complaints, many of which were identical in format. The council has yet to step in, but the majority of the work, by Los Angeles-based artist Lauren YS, has now been painted over with tags. The mural is on the rear of a nondescript commercial property, where no one answered on Monday. Lauren YS said on Instagram they'd named the work Kinbakubi, which translates literally from Japanese to 'the beauty of tight binding'. The artist said it was 'a parting gift for Melbourne' that they were commissioned to paint at a photo studio. On Monday, the handful of people to walk by the laneway during the hour The Age was there had come specifically to see the artwork. Most were saddened to see it ruined. Some pointed out it location, which is just a few minutes' walk from the Lucrezia & De Sade fetish store and sex shop Passionfruit, both in Brunswick Street. Magenta Chello, from Ballarat, arrived with her partner to admire the depiction of the bound and gagged woman as active members of the kink community. She said the painting was 'absolutely beautiful'.
ABC News
11-05-2025
- ABC News
Controversial Fitzroy mural in Melbourne attracts more than 1,000 letters to Yarra council
A Melbourne council says it has received more than 1,000 emails in the past two days regarding a controversial mural showing a bound and gagged woman. A Los Angeles-based street artist known as Lauren YS painted a building near Cecil Street in Fitzroy, sparking a flurry of complaints. City of Yarra mayor Stephen Jolly said while it was not council's role to be "the art police", the mural had broken the rules. "They don't have a planning permit, they'll be approached about that, they'll be dealt with in the normal way," Cr Jolly said. "We're going play it with a straight bat." Cr Jolly said he had received more than 1,000 emails in the last 48 hours, with many emails coming from residents around the country and special interest groups. "Most of them are stock emails, just copy-and-paste emails from people, mainly not in Yarra … organised by Collective Shout which is this NGO that's against domestic violence," he said. In a statement on social media, Collective Shout criticised the work as a "chilling image" that "eroticised violence against women". "Responding to objections, the artist defended the mural as 'empowering' and told objectors to 'chill'," the group said. "But there is nothing "empowering" or subversive about normalising or glamorising violence against women." Council has attempted to contact the business where the mural is located, but has been unsuccessful so far. Cr Jolly said the business would "definitely" receive a fine over the breach in permit laws. He said while it remained contentious, the issue was in the past as someone had already tagged over the mural. The ABC has contacted Lauren YS for comment.
