Mexican art critic's stunt shatters $20G contemporary piece

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A Mexican art critic’s plan to show her disdain for a contemporary installation by setting a soda can atop the work took an unanticipated turn when the stunt shattered the piece.

Avelina Lésper apologized for the incident at the Zona Maco art fair in Mexico City on Saturday, saying that she did not intentionally destroy the piece, which consisted of a sheet of glass with a stone, soccer ball and other random objects suspended inside.

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“It was like the work heard my comment and felt what I thought of it,” Lésper said in a video statement for Milenio, a Mexican media group that publishes her columns. “The work shattered into pieces and collapsed and fell on the floor.”

The display was created by Mexican artist Gabriel Rico, who contrasts objects made by humans, such as tennis balls, with objects found in nature, such as feathers and rocks.

After the work lay ruined on the gallery floor, Lésper said she was then told the piece was valued at $20,000.

The gallery said the destruction appeared to be accidental, but criticized Lésper’s conduct as showing an “enormous lack of professionalism and respect.”

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“Lésper coming too close to the work to place a soda can on it and take a picture as criticism without a doubt caused the destruction,” OMR gallery said in a statement on Instagram.

The incident also spurred a debate on social media over what constitutes art.

Alfonso Miranda, director of the Soumaya art museum in Mexico, described the incident via Twitter as a “tragedy.” Others took to social media to applaud the destruction as a performance piece, and to pan the sale of art that consists of used and found objects.

Lésper said she offered to repair the piece after the gallery rejected her idea to leave the installation shattered, to show its evolution.

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The artist has yet to comment on the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.