Australian artist Lushsux has courted controversy again, after he painted a meme-inspired mural of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival last week.
The mural, which you can see below, features Grohl’s much-memed ‘thumbs up’ face and the caption, “Like and repost this image and Dave Grohl will reform Nirvana with a holographic Kurt Kobain [sic].”
A few days after it was painted, Lushsux’s mural was painted over in white as onlookers chanted “SAVE DAVE GROHL”.
Lushsux reckons the mural was covered up because representatives for Grohl (who was performing at Roskilde Festival with Foo Fighters) allegedly made a complaint about the artwork. However, Roskilde Festival has denied that a complaint was made.
Lushsux tells Music Feeds that he was informed by festival organisers that Grohl’s management “wasn’t having” the mural, which was then painted over with the street artist’s approval.
“They painted it out because Grohl’s management complained, then offered me to paint a new thing,” he says.
“I think there was a whole ‘the Foo Fighters won’t play unless it’s gone’ kind of situation, but I don’t wanna badmouth the festival as everyone involved is a volunteer and genuinely good people.
“They were bummed that it had to go, I think everyone bar the band knew it was just a piss take. Someone had to paint over it so there was no more trouble.”
Lushsux says he doesn’t really “give a fuck” about the mural being painted over, but he’s still got words for Grohl.
“Fuck Dave Grohl and fuck his management too. I’m gonna smash out a lot of walls and memes on him now this week for it,” he says.
“It’s the only time ever something has been cleaned off at the festival and they have been doing a graffiti art program for many many years. Lucky me.”
A Roskilde Festival spokesperson has denied that a complaint was received from Grohl’s management, saying, “We’re very sorry if the artist perceived this as a demand from the festival management or the band. This is not the case.”
The spokesperson initially told Music Feeds that Lushsux painted over the mural himself after it was up for a few days, but has since clarified that Lushsux didn’t paint over his own mural.
“Lushsux didn’t personally paint the mural white again – this was done by volunteers from the festival in agreement with the artist,” the spokesperson says.
“The mural was painted over by volunteers from the street art crew as a part of their general vision of keeping the festival site ever-changing.
“This was an artistic decision made by the street art coordinators themselves. The same crew that helped paint it in the first place also helped with the next step; making room for the next painting.”
The white wall where Lushsux’s Grohl mural once stood wasn’t replaced by a new work, which festival organisers say is due to “persistent rain”.
Music Feeds contacted Foo Fighters’ and Dave Grohl’s management for comment for this story, but they are yet to respond.
Watch onlookers chant “SAVE DAVE GROHL” as Lushsux’s mural is painted over, below.
