PARIS (AP) — A controversial Russian performance artist has been detained after setting fire to the facade of a Paris branch of France’s central bank. The building suffered minor damage and had its doors closed Monday. Earlier this year, Pyotr
PARIS (AP) — A controversial Russian performance artist has been detained after setting fire to the facade of a Paris branch of France’s central bank.
The building suffered minor damage and had its doors closed Monday.
Earlier this year, Pyotr Pavlensky, who’s known for his grotesque and politically-charged performances, said he has received political asylum in France. He sought asylum in January after he was accused of rape in Russia. He denies the accusations.
He was jailed for six months in 2015 to 2016 after setting fire to the doors of the headquarters of the Russian federal security agency in Moscow, in what he claimed was political art.
His most shocking stunt was in 2013, when he nailed his scrotum to the cobblestones of Moscow’s Red Square in what he said was a metaphor for Russian political apathy.
