The Guadeloupe painter Blow was summoned this Tuesday, May 6 at 9 a.m. to the Pointe-à-Pitre court. The rest of the case of the painting entitled “Non-Lieu”, visible in January in the exhibition “Exposed to the Chlordecone”. We see a man draped with a Guadeloupe independence flag who brandishes a cut head, symbol of authority that allowed the spread of pesticides. President Emmanuel Macron had filed a complaint.
“This painting symbolizes the people who get rid of their executioner, who stands (…)”. It is among these words, among other things, that Blow describes his work. A painting that challenges opinion, denounces a crime, proclaims an emancipation. Its content, without filter, is perhaps no more or less violent than its title, inscribes it, in a very real judicial dimension: the dismissal on the Chlordecone affair. Because this is what the two Parisian investigation judges asked in the investigation into the chlordecone scandal. And this is what the Guadeloupe plastic artist translated in his language.
In January the cut head held at arm’s length, sparked the ire of the President of the Republic who recognized himself.
However, the role of the state is often pointed out in the file of the chlordecone. For derogations allowing the spreading of pesticides. Also, for the lack of enthusiasm to court those responsible for this poisoning of men and soils … but also for the remarks minimizing the impact of the product. Emmanuel Macron, moreover, aroused controversy in early 2019, saying “You must not say that this pesticide is carcinogen”. The Élysée had returned after the incident.
There have already been hearings in February: Philippe Verdol, president of the association “Envie Santé” which organized the exhibition, its commissioner, artist Antonwè and Blow.
But beyond tastes and colors, or graphic subtleties in the suggestion of messages, it is first the illustration of a deaf dialogue that returns to the law. Between one who screams his need for justice and the other who complains that he shouts too hard.
For the defenders of the visual artist and the organizers, it is freedom of expression which is threatened, especially since satirical publications have several times represented the president Macron Guillotiné or with the head on a halberd.
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