Climate protesters glue themselves to Warhol print in Australian gallery

Protesters in Australia scrawled graffiti and glued themselves to a piece depicting Campbell’s soup cans

'Campbell's Soup Cans' by Andy Warhol has been targeted by climate activists at the National Gallery of Australia. Photo: Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Climate protesters glued their hands to the transparent covers of Andy Warhol's famous Campbell's Soup screen prints on display at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra on Wednesday.

The protest, by a group calling itself Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies Australia, was the latest in a series of climate demonstrations targeting famous artworks around the world.

Protesters also scrawled graffiti across the covers of the prints, which were removed for cleaning, but were not damaged, according to the gallery.

"A protest has taken place at the National Gallery of Australia following similar incidents here and overseas," the organisation said.

"The National Gallery does not wish to promote these actions and has no further comment."

Warhol's Campbell's Soup screen prints, produced in the 1960s, remain one of the most recognisable symbols of the American pop art movement.

"Warhol took as themes everyday subject matter that resonated because of its familiar origins ... such as the humble can of Campbell's Soup," the National Gallery of Australia wrote alongside the exhibition.

The protesters said they were targeting the Warhol prints to highlight the "danger of capitalism".

"Andy Warhol depicted consumerism gone mad in this iconic series. And now we have capitalism gone mad," climate activist Bonnie Cassen said.

"Families are having to choose between medicine and food for their children while fossil fuel companies return record profits."

Other climate protesters have recently glued their hands to Goya paintings in Madrid, thrown soup on Vincent van Gogh works in London, and smeared mashed potatoes on a Claude Monet masterpiece in Potsdam, near Berlin.

In October, two climate activists glued their hands to the perspex cover of a Picasso painting in a Melbourne art gallery.

The painting, which was not damaged during the demonstration, was being shown on the final day of the gallery's The Picasso Century exhibition.

Climate activists targeting artworks around the world — in pictures

'Campbell's Soup Cans' by Andy Warhol was been targeted by climate activists at the National Gallery of Australia. Photo: Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies

A police officer stands outside the Mauritshuis museum, where three people were arrested for attempting to smudge Vermeer's painting 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', currently exhibited there, in The Hague, Netherlands on October 27, 2022. EPA

Two environmental activists of Last Generation glue themselves to metal bars around a display of dinosaur skeletons and holding a banner reading "what if the government does not have it under control" in the Berlin's Natural History Museum, in Berlin on October 30. AFP

Climate protesters of Last Generation after throwing mashed potatoes at the Claude Monet painting 'Les Meules' at Potsdam’s Barberini Museum on October 24. AP

Protesters throw two tins of Heinz tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s famous 1888 work Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London on October 14. Photo: Just Stop Oil

Three young supporters of Just Stop Oil spray-painted around the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. Two also glued themselves to the frame of Horatio McCulloch's painting 'My Heart’s in the Highlands' on June 29 this year. Photo: Just Stop Oil

Two activists glued themselves to the frame of Vincent van Gogh’s 'Peach Trees in Blossom' (1889) at The Courtauld Gallery in London on June 30. Photo: Just Stop Oil

On July 1, two activists glued themselves to the frame of 'Tomson’s Aeolian Harp' (1809), a painting by JMW Turner, at the Manchester Art Gallery. Photo: Just Stop Oil

Activists from the 'Just Stop Oil' campaign group cover 'The Hay Wain' painting by English artist John Constable, in a mock 'undated' version including roads and aircraft, before glueing their hands to the frame in protest against the use of fossil fuels, at The National Gallery in London on July 4. AFP

Activists glue their hands to the frame of the painting 'The Hay Wain' on July 4. AFP

Five Just Stop Oil activists spray paint the wall and glue themselves to the frame of the painting the 'Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci on July 5, at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photo: In Pictures via Getty Images

Two activists of the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) environmentalist group glue themselves to the glass protecting Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli's 'Primavera (Spring)' in Florence's Uffizi Galleries on July 22. Photo: Ultima Generation via AP

A museum official tries to block two activists of Ultima Generazione (Last Generation). Photo: Ultima Generation via AP

Visitors take pictures and video of the 'Mona Lisa' after cake was smeared on its protective glass at the Louvre Museum in Paris on May 29. Photo: Twitter / @klevisl007 via Reuters