Serious Drama as N*ked Painting of South Korean Female President Goes Viral, Sparks Violence (Photo)

 

A serious controversy is brewing over a satirical painting depicting the suspended South Korean President Park Geun-hye n*ked.

 

According to The Korea Times, the painting created an instant buzz after being displayed at an exhibition organized by Rep. Pyo Chang-won from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) at the National Assembly Hall.

 

The n*de painting met a violent end at the country’s parliament Tuesday, reports said, as supporters tore the work — which evokes Edouard Manet’s Olympia — off the wall and destroyed it.

 

The image was part of an exhibition at the National Assembly featuring works by 22 artists lampooning Park and her confidante Choi Soon-Sil, who is at the centre of the corruption scandal that led to Park’s impeachment.

 

In Manet’s 19th-century original, on display in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, a naked white woman widely identified as a prostitute stares boldly out at the viewer while a black servant brings her flowers.

 

The National Assembly Secretariat decided to halt the exhibition, Tuesday, after protests from female lawmakers. Pyo's party also referred him to its ethics committee for possible disciplinary measures, while the lawmaker claimed the painting was within the bounds of the freedom of expression.

 

"Although the artwork was intended as a satire, we concluded that it was inappropriate to have such a painting to be exhibited at an event organized by a lawmaker," Rep. Park Kyung-mee, DPK spokeswoman, said.

 

 

The exhibition, titled "Soon, Bye," has been held at the lobby of the Assembly building since Friday.

 

The painting in question is titled "Dirty Sleep," lampooning the allegations that the President was sleeping after receiving a sleep-inducing injection so she could undergo cosmetic treatment on the day of the Sewol ferry sinking on April 16, 2014, and that explained her alleged seven hours of absence from duty.

 

It is a combined parody of "Olympia" by Edouard Manet and "Sleeping Venus" by Giorgione.

 

A naked woman with Park's face sleeps on the bed, while her friend Choi Soon-sil, the central figure of the corruption scandal, attends to Park, holding a bunch of syringes. Over the window in the background is seen the ferry Sewol sinking.

 

On Park's abdomen are the face of Park's father and former President Park Chung-hee and a missile symbolizing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.

 

The artist, Lee Ku-young, earlier said the piece is a parody of Park and Choi's relationship under the theme of the missing seven hours on the day of the Sewol tragedy.

 

The exhibited artworks were created by about 20 people who were allegedly on the government's blacklist of artists critical of the Park administration.

 

The ruling Saenuri Party also criticized the exhibition, saying it is a "character assassination of the President under the guise of freedom of expression."

 

"The exhibition shows defamation of character and low-quality sexual harassment under the pretext of satire," Saenuri spokeswoman Kim Jung-jae said. "We should respect artists' reasonable criticism of social issues, but if it goes too far, it causes anger."

 

Pyo said that he still believes the painting is within the bounds of freedom of expression.

 

"But some point out the exhibition caused an unnecessary stir ahead of the impeachment ruling and the presidential election. I respect that opinion," he said on his Twitter.

 

Below is the n*de painting: