Artist Who Painted Nude Donald Trump Portrait Assaulted In California After Painting Displayed In London
The artist who painted an unflattering portrait of a nude Donald Trump was attacked by one of the billionaire’s supporters who chanted “Trump 2016” while he punched her in the face.
Illma Gore posted a photo of herself sporting a black eye on Instagram after she was assaulted by a man who jumped out of his car on Los Angeles’s La Cienega Boulevard a couple days ago.
“Today I was punched in the face by a man who got out of his car and yelled, ‘Trump 2016!’ in Los Angeles, just days after I returned home from London just down the road from my house.”
Gore was returning from London, where her controversial pastel based pencil and oil artwork dubbed Make America Great Again was displayed in the Maddox Gallery.
The artist said the car was full of male Donald Trump supporters who drove off laughing after one of them punched her in the face. She urged witnesses to the assault to come forward and speak with police.
“Though I encourage passion, opinion and emotion, especially though art, I think violence is disgusting. This type of violence makes creatives feel like we live in a world where our individual creative input isn’t safe.”
The Australian-born artist made headlines in February when she painted an unflattering portrait of Trump, complete with a micro penis, that outraged supporters of the real estate billionaire. She received thousands of death threats from Donald supporters.
“I am sad that this is the state of our America right now. I am sad that Trump, and many of his supporters, don’t find words enough to express their opinions – they need walls, waterboarding and punches.”
Art galleries in the U.S. refused to exhibit the painting fearing a backlash from Trump supporters. Illma received an anonymous call threatening her with a lawsuit if she sold the painting, reports the Independent.
“It is my art and I stand by it. Plus anyone who is afraid of a fictional penis is not scary to me.”
The artwork is currently on display at the Maddox Gallery in London, where it’s listed at $1.87 million. However, it was banned by Facebook and other social media sites and removed from the online auction site eBay.
Illma Gore plans to proceed with the sale of the artwork and donate a portion of the profits to Sage Place for Youth, a non-profit company supporting homeless young people.
“@realdonaldtrump Please stop glamorizing and perpetuating violence. Make America Decent Again! #makeamericadecentagain.”
The artist teased out her next subject for a presidential portrait earlier this week, saying she planned to paint a nude Ted Cruz.
“‘Art is the lie that allows us to see the truth.’ Pablo Picasso. I am not deterred by this.”
This isn’t the first time Donald Trump supporters have turned violent and attacked his political opponents. From Chicago to California, the Republican front-runner has inspired violence for his controversial calls to build a wall on the U.S. southern border and ban Muslims from entering the country.
Pro-Trump activists have sucker punched protestors, shoved demonstrators and threatened media reporters with violent attacks.
Trump is currently preparing for Tuesday’s Indiana’s primary, where he is expected to capture the majority of Republican votes. Unable to pull ahead of Trump, opponent Ted Cruz has vowed to send the Republican nomination into chaos during a contested convention if he can stop the real estate billionaire from gathering the magic number of 1,237 delegates.
[Image via Illma Gore/Instagram]
