The painful life of an artist

Artist Ľuboš Lorenz known from the controversy over splashing red paint across a bust of a top communist regime leader was wounded while painting over a memorial plaque to yet another representative of the regime. The mayor of Veľký Lipník in eastern Slovakia Peter Labant showed his disagreement with the artist's action by attacking him. "While I was attempting to paint over a plaque dedicated to a communist judicial murderer with water-washable dye, somebody attacked me, kicking over the box that I was standing on," artist Lubos Lorenz told TASR press agency. The plaque for the former communist prosecutor-general and justice minister Jan Pjescak was unveiled on the building of the municipal office in Veľký Lipník on May 15. The police have launched an investigation into the crimes of battery and rowdiness. "The damage to the memorial plaque has been registered as a misdemeanour against property," said Presov Regional Police Directorate spokesperson Jana Migalova.