US Graffiti Artist Causes Stir In South Africa
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(JOHANNESBURG, South Africa) — An artist from California who goes by the name “Above” is boasting about a recent trick he pulled in Johannesburg.
He was commissioned to paint a mural that said “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” in Jewel City, where hundreds of diamond companies operate. Instead, he painted, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend and a man’s worst enemy.”
In a blog posting he wrote, “I was painting a controversial wordplay about the diamond trade and how it’s fuelled so much bloodshed in wars, making it one of man’s worst enemies.”
Property owners say the mural is an embarrassment that will be scrubbed immediately. They say they are an unfair target because companies in Jewel City are not among those involved in the trade of blood diamonds.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio