TORONTO — Artist Maximo Caminero is facing felony criminal mischief charges after smashing a painted vase at a museum in Miami on Sunday.
The vase, part of an exhibition of works by acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, was valued at $1 million.
Estimated to be as much as 7,000 years old, the vase was one of 16 sitting on a platform in front of life-size photos of Weiwei dropping a Han Dynasty urn.
Caminero admitted he picked up and dropped the vase at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) as a protest — but wasn’t aware it was so valuable.
“There was no way one would think the artist had painted over an ancient artifact,” Caminero told Miami New Times. “I thought it was a common clay pot like you would find at Home Depot, frankly.”
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The 51-year-old painter said he smashed the vase “for all the local artists in Miami that have never been shown in museums here.”
Caminero told New Times it was a spontaneous protest against PAMM, a publicly-funded museum he said “continues to ignore local artists.”
In an interview with the New York Times, Weiwei condemned Caminero’s act of vandalism.
“The argument does not support the act. It doesn’t sound right,” he said. “If he really had a point, he should choose another way, because this will bring him trouble to destroy property that does not belong to him.”
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Weiwei said it’s unlikely the vase can be fixed.
“A work is a work. It’s a physical thing,” he told the New York Times. “What can you do? It’s already over.”
According to a statement on the PAMM website: “Although the museum can’t speak directly to intentions, evidence suggests that this was a premeditated act. As an art museum dedicated to celebrating modern and contemporary artists from within our community and around the world, we have the highest respect for freedom of expression, but this destructive act is vandalism and disrespectful to another artist and his work, to Pérez Art Museum Miami, and to our community.”
Caminero, who has scheduled a press conference Tuesday afternoon, expressed some remorse.
“I feel so sorry about it, for sure,” he told the New Times. “I admire Ai Weiwei greatly and have always supported his actions while he was suffering indignities from the Chinese government.”
Caminero has some support, however. Artist Sergio Garcia told New Times it was “the most courageous act ever undertaken by a Miami artist.”
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