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art basel artist arrest chalk performance 1234766521

Performance artist Thomas Iser was arrested during Art Basel Miami Beach after spray-painting the words “Sorry to disturb, art in progress” on a window of the Miami Beach Convention Center using washable spray chalk. He invited his three-year-old daughter to add marks, and police charged him with criminal mischief. Iser, who has staged similar interventions globally, was handcuffed in front of his child and spent a night in jail before posting $600 bail. Miami-based artist Jillian Mayer witnessed the scene and documented it, noting the artist was in full body paint. Iser has since reframed the arrest as an unintended extension of the performance.

article news schedule May 21, 2025 visibility 1 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

Photographer Who Scales Buildings to Get the Perfect Shot Arrested at Opening Night of His First Solo Exhibition

Photographer Isaac Wright, known as Drift, was arrested at the opening night of his first solo exhibition, “Coming Home,” at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York City on May 15, 2025. A plainclothes officer tapped him on the shoulder while he was speaking with the crowd, and uniformed officers then led him out in handcuffs. The arrest stems from a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge linked to a photograph in the show, which Wright took after climbing the spire of the Empire State Building in 2024. Wright, a former Army soldier who began climbing buildings to cope with PTSD, has faced previous legal trouble for rooftop trespassing, including a 2020 arrest in Arizona.

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