When galleries become protest sites – a new exhibition explores the art of disruption
In a new exhibition at London's Auto Italia, Alex Margo Arden explores the recent spate of art attacks and the 'tricky' discourse they provoke

'It’s tricky, and the fact that it’s tricky is what drew me to it,' Alex Margo Arden tells me. The artist started making work inspired by protest actions in 2022, when Just Stop Oil activists made headlines by throwing soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery. ‘Safety Curtain’, her solo exhibition at London’s Auto Italia, looks at various moments when arts institutions have become protest sites.
It contains a number of paintings of recognisable artworks disrupted by activist groups, frozen in time moments after the event — red paint smeared across a Monet landscape; the Mona Lisa violated with pastry residue. Arden notes that, in most cases, the artworks themselves are safer than they seem. Their protective glazes bear the brunt of the damage, and inspired the exhibition’s title.
The Mona Lisa, smeared with cake, The Louvre 2022 Alex Margo Arden. Image: Scene [29 May 2022; Louvre, Paris] III, 2024. All images courtesy the artist, Auto Italia and Ginny on Frederick.
The trickiness has to do with the extreme public reactions to such events. Though the artworks tend to remain unscathed, the protests inflict what Arden calls 'symbolic damage.' It’s a symbolism that ruffles many feathers; groups like Just Stop Oil are subject to a near-constant stream of vitriol online. Sympathy for their environmental cause seems to be in short supply.
Arden takes a more nuanced point of view. She’s all for the conservation of important artworks, but understands that, in the long term, this involves heeding the warnings of climate activists. 'The stakes of the cause are obviously huge,' she says, 'in the future, culture might not even exist — or be drastically changed by the deadly effects of climate crisis.'
Monet's Le Printemps, covered in soup. 10 Feb 2024, Museum of Fine Arts Lyon. Image: Alex Margo ArdenScene [10 February 2024; Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon], 2024. All images courtesy the artist, Auto Italia and Ginny on Frederick.
Generally, we have low tolerance for ambiguity. It’s difficult to hold two opposing-seeming views at once. It’s hard to understand an act of symbolic damage as an act of care, but perhaps we should try to. It’s — to use Arden’s word — tricky, and that’s why she thinks we should engage with it: 'these exhibitions become a way of generating conversations and expanding thought, both for me and for the people who see the work.'
Cancelled Performance (2024–25) is an installation on the gallery’s facade. Arden has covered it with posters for a performance of Les Misérables with an appendage that reads ‘CANCELLED’, a reference to an action where protesters stormed the stage mid-performance. Eventually, the show went on — just as the masterpieces were cleaned and returned to display.
But Arden notes the importance of remembering these events, canonising them as part of cultural history. 'If we want to have art in the future, we’re going to have to think of how we’ll protect it.' Paradoxically, disruptions like these will be a key part of that conversation.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Safety Curtain is at Auto Italia in London from 17 January 2025
Phin Jennings is a writer and researcher based in London. He writes about art, culture for titles including Frieze, Apollo, The Art Newspaper and the Financial Times.
-
For its US debut, Formafantasma goes back to basics
On view at Friedman Benda this summer, the show is the result of the Milan-based studio's ongoing fascination with history, technology and domesticity
-
Wallpaper* checks in at The Ned Nomad in New York
This hotel and social club is a vibrant hub of hospitality that evokes 1920s glamour for members and visitors alike
-
The Nomos Worldtimer watch keeps the design-conscious traveller in the zone
Nomos Glashütte enters the world of worldtimers in style – discover the watch
-
London calling! Artists celebrate the city at Saatchi Yates
London has long been an inspiration for both superstar artists and newer talent. Saatchi Yates gathers some of the best
-
Alexandra Metcalf creates an unsettling Victorian world in London
Alexandra Metcalf turns The Perimeter into a alternate world in exhibition, 'Gaaaaaaasp'
-
Sexual health since 1987: archival LGBTQIA+ posters on show at Studio Voltaire
A look back at how grassroots movements emphasised the need for effective sexual health for the LGBTQIA+ community with a host of playful and informative posters, now part of a London exhibition
-
Ten things to see at London Gallery Weekend
As 125 galleries across London take part from 6-8 June 2025, here are ten things not to miss, from David Hockney’s ‘Love’ series to Kayode Ojo’s look at the superficiality of taste
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this week
This week saw the Wallpaper* team jet-setting to Jordan and New York; those of us left in London had to make do with being transported via the power of music at rooftop bars, live sets and hologram performances
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this week
The Wallpaper* team enjoyed good art, food and drink this week, attending various exhibition openings and unearthing some of the best pasta and cocktails that London has to offer
-
As Photo London turns 10, seven photographers tell us the story behind their portraits
Photo London celebrates its tenth anniversary from 14–18 May 2025 at Somerset House
-
The Tate Modern is hosting a weekend of free events. Here's what to see
From 9 -12 May, check out art, attend a lecture, or get your groove on during the museum's epic Birthday Weekender