A painting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dressed in women's underwear was seized by Russian police from a St. Petersburg gallery late on Monday. The satirical depiction shows the two political figures getting cozy with one another as Putin suggestively brushes his apparent consort Medvedev's dark locks.
The painting was one of four pieces of art Russian police seized, saying they had broken unspecified laws. St. Petersburg politician Vitaly Mironov told Reuters the depictions were "of a distinctly pornographic character." Mironov, who co-sponsored Russia's recently enacted anti-"gay propaganda" law, had his face combined with the gay rights movement's rainbow flag in one of the removed images.
In a textbook example of the "Streisand effect," the painting garnered far more attention following its seizure than it did during its two prior weeks on display.
The Streisand effect refers to an internet phenomenon where an attempt to remove or censor a piece of information comes back to bite the censoring party in the ass by causing the information to be more widely publicized than it would've otherwise been. It takes its name from legendary crooner Barbra Streisand's ill-fated attempts to suppress the publication of photos of her Malibu home.
Giving no further explanation, officers also shut down the entire "Museum of Authorities" gallery, its owner said. Russia has a law against insulting authorities, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
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