'Poo-tin’s a S– –t': Artist paints Putin with dog poop to help Ukraine's war victims
Dominic Murphy, a UK artist, has found a novel way to earn money for war victims while also dumping on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Murphy has sold an image of the Russian president fashioned out of dog excrement, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The native of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, was known for creating Alice in Wonderland themes and wanted to make a statement against Russian aggression. Murphy noted in the description of the stinky masterpiece, which costs £40 ($52.66), "I thought if I could paint something that is relevant to the conflict, and that could grab some attention, I could produce some prints and give the profit to those in need." Murphy declared he didn't want anything "wishy-washy like doves." So, he went on to create an excremental Putin imitation "using dog s— – t [from his pooch Sybil] and mud on canvas." The painting is aptly titled 'Poo-tin's a S – – t'.
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Murphy told the Welwyn Hatfield Times about his odiferous masterpiece, "I did a portrait of Putin using dog s – – t. Poo-tin’s a S – – t." For a good cause, he has certainly converted s – – t into gold.
The painting, though 'sh---y', does not smell like excrement. "I mixed it [the feces] with mud then varnished the whole thing about 30 times so you can’t smell it," Murphy added. It was an opportunity for the artist to kill two birds with one stone.
"I really liked the idea of being able to insult him while raising money for the people of Ukraine," the painter added. "I've had a pretty good reaction to it because people can see it’s funny but quite poignant," he says. Murphy appears to have raised £500 (about $659) so far by selling the original picture and its replicas at the Hatfield Market. Before donating to UNICEF, he intends to up the figure further.
"I managed to sell the original for £150 (about $197), so someone actually paid for a dog s – – t painting," gushed the poopainter, who intends to give half of the money to charity. Murphy also believes that the artwork would help him feel less despondent about the invasion, which saw Russia bomb a maternity hospital in Mariupol lately.
"There’s a feeling of helplessness, so I had a think about what I could do to help and that was paint," he said. "This feels like your next-door neighbors being attacked and something had to be done." Murphy is also selling a painting of Putin reinterpreted as Adolf Hitler for £40 ($52.66) in addition to "Poo-tin's a S – – t."