Well this escalated quickly.

The artist of the defaced Mandela-inspired Ray-Ban art installation, Michael Elion, seems to be laying charges against the group, ‘Tokolos’ (more on them here), that vandalised his work on the promenade.

Artist Michael Elion has filed a charge against the anonymous group of artists Tokolos Stencils, after his controversial piece, Perceiving Freedom, was defaced just two weeks after its unveiling.

Allegedly, Elion received threats and is now laying charges against a long list of people. He describes the act as “criminal” and “an incitement of violence” – We also know what the World Design Capital thinks of this.

We are not sure if these are the threats Elion’s referring to, but fellow artist Hermann Niebuhr clarifies his ‘threat’ on Facebook:

“So it appears as if Michael Elion has laid charges of incitement to violence against myself, Stephen Hobbs, and Candice Breitz following a post I made on FB. 

“Tell that charlatan Michael Elion, we’re sending a Joburg street fighter Stephen Hobbs down to settle this”

“oh dear. Lets have a look see.”

“Michael, the ‘street fighter’ refers to street cred ( you appear to have zero), the “fighter” one of the finest public art experts in Joburg and of course the “settling” would refer to his giving you a piece of his mind. Not violence, dear boy.”

It is said that the Ray Ban artwork will be wiped with a ‘glass-friendly’ cloth, and returned to its original condition.

More info on Traveller24