A monumental white horse sculpture by renowned French artist Richard Orlinski was vandalized with black spray paint in San Martino di Lota, Corsica, during the night of Friday to Saturday. The large-scale artwork, which depicts a rearing horse and has been on display since April as part of a tourism promotion campaign, was defaced with dollar sign symbols drawn in black spray paint.
Passersby discovered the vandalism early Saturday morning and were shocked to see the impressive white sculpture defaced in this manner. The artwork is located in Pietranera, within the municipality of San Martino di Lota, where it had been attracting visitors as part of an open-air art gallery initiative.
Marie-Hélène Padovani, the mayor of San Martino di Lota, expressed her strong reaction to the incident. "Allow me to express my profound disgust at this cowardly and pointless act," she stated. "I want first of all to present my apologies on behalf of my municipality and also on behalf of the community of agglomeration to artist Richard Orlinski, who has done us the honor of placing these structures that are recognized worldwide."
The mayor emphasized that the vandalism represents more than just material damage. "Today, beyond the material degradation, there is also for me a degradation of Corsican values and of Corsicans because we no longer have respect for culture today. And that is what grieves me the most," Padovani said. She acknowledged that the act might be linked to some people's discontent but condemned the method as unacceptable, stating, "We have other ways today to express discontent than through vandalism."
Padovani announced that the municipality will file a formal complaint regarding the incident. "We cannot let such behavior go unpunished," she declared, emphasizing the community's commitment to protecting public art and cultural initiatives.
The vandalized sculpture is part of the second edition of the In Giru festival, organized by the intercommunal tourism office of Bastia. Since late April and continuing through mid-October, six monumental sculptures by Richard Orlinski have transformed the metropolitan area into an open-air art gallery. The installation includes a red King Kong sculpture at Bastia's Old Port and a bear sculpture facing the sea in Santa-Maria-di-Lota.
Following the success of the 2024 edition, this new iteration aims to provide unprecedented cultural and tourism visibility to the territory. The initiative capitalizes on Orlinski's international reputation and social media following of more than 10 million people across various platforms.
As of Saturday morning, other sculptures in the exhibition remained untouched. The blue lion sculpture displayed at Place St-Nicolas in Bastia continued to maintain its pristine appearance, showing no signs of vandalism. The incident appears to be isolated to the horse sculpture in San Martino di Lota, though authorities remain vigilant about protecting the remaining artworks throughout the festival period.
