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# Brussels Plagued by NSFW Street Art
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/brussels-plagued-by-nsfw-street-art/
- Published: 2016-10-03T20:37:57.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:41:57.000Z
- Description: Over the past few weeks, highly NSFW street art has popped up across Brussels, courtesy of an anonymous street artist or graffiti collective.
- Author: Claire Voon
- Tags: In Brief, Street Art, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:23 (2016, 2017, part 2)

![A mystery street artist's alteration to an old factory sign (photo by @debochavic/Instagram)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/10/14478304_1245707558834076_9109849522871205888_n.jpg)

A mystery street artist’s alteration to an old factory sign (photo by @debochavic/Instagram)

Over the past few weeks, some very visible, highly NSFW street art has popped up across Brussels, courtesy of an anonymous street artist or graffiti collective. A flaccid, nearly 20-inch tall phallus is currently plastered on the side of a four-story building in the Saint-Gilles district; a woman masturbates in one full-frontal piece, neglecting her view of Place Stéphanie; and an iconic advertisement for the home appliance company Zanussi on St. Catherine Square received a paint job so it now reads “ANUS.” A graphic close-up of the act of penetration, too, has appeared along the Rue des Poissonniers for all to gaze upon.

![Mural of a phallus near La Barrière de Saint-Gilles (photo by @pazpradenas/Instagram)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/10/14504871_182160618857736_7740515267737812992_n.jpg)

Mural of a phallus near La Barrière de Saint-Gilles (photo by @pazpradenas/Instagram) (click to enlarge)

Locals have suspected the explicit works are the creations of Vincent Glowinski, better known as [Bonom](http://www.vincentglowinski.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), a street artist who has for over a decade planted similar black-and-white murals across the city. The radio network RTBF investigated the claims, however, and reached out to Bonom, who [told](https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail%5Fle-penis-de-la-barriere-de-saint-gilles-l-oeuvre-de-bonom?id=9408942&ref=hyperallergic.com) them, “It’s not me, of course, and I do not want to be involved in this story!”

Many of these magnificent murals still remain, although likely not for long. Whether or not it receives a washing, the “ANUS” wall is [slated to fall](http://www.bruzz.be/nl/actua/bouwproject-bedreigt-iconische-zanussireclame?ref=hyperallergic.com) as construction is ongoing to build new apartments on that lot. City authorities have actually decided to allow the detail of coitus to stay, as Le Soir [reported](http://www.lesoir.be/1323999/article/actualite/regions/bruxelles/2016-09-22/commune-saint-gilles-va-effacer-graffiti-sexe-geant?ref=hyperallergic.com), but they have dictated that the penis — which looks pretty gloomy in black-and-white — will no longer be able to hang out in public. An online petition, naturally, has emerged to *sauvez le penis* (“save the penis,” if you missed that), and has [received](https://secure.avaaz.org/nl/petition/Het%5Fschepencollege%5Fvan%5FSintGillis%5FRED%5FDE%5FPENISMUUR/?shzEPab&ref=hyperallergic.com) nearly 2,700 signatures. You have two weeks to sign it before the phallus disappears, a period within which we may probably expect to see more large-scale, sexual organs pop up around the region.

> [@Cyrilhanouna](https://twitter.com/Cyrilhanouna?ref=hyperallergic.com) [@TPMP](https://twitter.com/TPMP?ref=hyperallergic.com) [@jmmaireofficiel](https://twitter.com/jmmaireofficiel?ref=hyperallergic.com) Une 2e fresque sur Bxl, Rue des Poissonniers (coïncidence) ?? [pic.twitter.com/q3ZgN0x84v](https://t.co/q3ZgN0x84v?ref=hyperallergic.com)  
>  
> — Charlotte – Kayoka (@kayoka2) [September 21, 2016](https://twitter.com/kayoka2/status/778676310944149504?ref=hyperallergic.com)

[h/t](http://www.dailydot.com/unclick/graffiti-artist-paints-penis-vulva-anus-brussels/?fb=dd&ref=hyperallergic.com) The Daily Dot