Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for the controversy surrounding his drawings of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

. He also created the sculptures ''

Nimis Nimis ( sl, Neme) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Udine, Friuli, north-eastern Italy, near the border with Slovenia. It is located at the foot of Mount Bernadia, home to a World War I Italian fort and a sweet white wine called Raman ...

'' and ''Arx'', made of driftwood and rock, respectively. The area where the sculptures are located was proclaimed by Vilks as an independent country, " Ladonia".

Early life and academic career

Vilks was born in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

, Sweden. His second given name Endel was Estonian, given by his father Eino Vilks who was of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n and Latvian descent. His mother was Swedish. He earned his

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

from

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Oslo National Academy of the Arts from 1988 to 1997. From 1997 to 2003, he was a professor in

art theory Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

at the

Bergen National Academy of the Arts Bergen Academy of Art and Design ( no, Kunst- og designhøgskolen i Bergen) or KHiB was one of two independent and accredited scientific institutions of higher learning in the visual arts and design in Norway (The other is Oslo National Academy o ...

. As an art theorist, Vilks was a proponent of the

institutional theory of art A theory of art is intended to contrast with a definition of art. Traditionally, ''definitions'' are composed of necessary and sufficient conditions and a single counterexample overthrows such a definition. ''Theorizing'' about art, on the othe ...

Artistic career

Although an academically trained art theorist, Vilks was a self-taught visual artist. In the 1970s, he started painting, and in 1984, he embarked on creating the idiosyncratic sculptures that are his hallmark, starting with ''Nimis''. At this time, in the early 1980s, postmodernism made its definite entry into the Swedish art scene, using inspiration from e.g. the French art philosopher

Jean-François Lyotard Jean-François Lyotard (; ; ; 10 August 1924 – 21 April 1998) was a French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist. His interdisciplinary discourse spans such topics as epistemology and communication, the human body, modern art and ...

Conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

ists took the place of the earlier

modernists Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

on the contemporary art scene. These conceptual artists did not want their art to have any aesthetic or programmatic content, but often focused on the artist's self. Vilks was part of this movement in Sweden. He turned himself in as a piece of art to the spring saloon at Vikingsberg, Helsingborg, and turned his own car into a piece of art at the fall exhibition at Skånes konstförening.Vikten av att vara Vilks "The importance of being Vilks"
, '' Svenska Dagbladet'', 27 June 2010

''Nimis'' and ''Arx''

In 1980 Vilks created two sculptures, ''Nimis'' and ''Arx'', the former made entirely of drift wood and the latter of concrete and rock, in the

Kullaberg Kullaberg () is a peninsula and nature reserve of land protruding into the Kattegat in Höganäs Municipality near the town of Mölle in southwest Sweden. The site in the province of Skåne is an area of considerable biodiversity supporting a num ...

nature reserve in Höganäs, Skåne. When the local authority found out, it tried to remove them, with fines being imposed, and vandals attacked them with fire and chainsaws. However, in 1996, the small area where the sculptures are located was proclaimed by Vilks as an independent country, " Ladonia". ''Nimis'' was sold to

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

as a means to circumvent the Swedish building code laws concerning unlawful building process. The sculpture of Nimis was owned by the late conceptual artist

Christo Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...

; the legal document documenting the sale is on display at the Swedish Museum of Sketches.

Critical reception and media attention

Vilks characterized his own skill in the actual crafts involved in sculpture as quite limited, although his artistic ideas can be seen as characteristic of his generation of Swedish conceptual artists. One of the few works of Vilks to be incorporated into a collection is the concrete sculpture '' Omphalos'', measuring high and weighing one tonne, which is owned by

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...

after it was first bought by fellow artist Ernst Billgren for 10 000 Swedish kronor. Vilks' long-standing controversies with different authorities due to his activities in the nature reserve Kullaberg, where ''Nimis'', ''Arx'', and ''Landonien'' are all located, received significant attention in Swedish media, which for the most part portrayed Vilks' work as specifically designed to be provocative. This attention has turned the area into something of a tourist attraction. In Vilks' activity as an art theorist, he commented on his own artistic activities in the second or third person. His different works of art, his actions, actions by those authorities with whom Vilks has been in conflict, and the media attention, were brought together in a ''

Gesamtkunstwerk A ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (, literally 'total artwork', translated as 'total work of art', 'ideal work of art', 'universal artwork', 'synthesis of the arts', 'comprehensive artwork', or 'all-embracing art form') is a work of art that makes use of al ...

''. He described himself as an "equal opportunity offender" in his critical depictions of religion. Indeed, he depicted Christ as a pedophile, as a reference to the scandal in the Catholic church, and also drew a grotesque caricature of "a modern Jew swollen by capitalism".

Muhammad drawings

In 2007, Vilks caused an international controversy when he depicted

as a

roundabout dog A roundabout dog ( sv, rondellhund) is a form of street installation that began in Sweden during the autumn of 2006 and continued for the rest of the year. There have been sporadic subsequent recurrences. The phenomenon consists of anonymous peop ...

in three drawings, designated to be shown at an art exhibition at Tällerud, in July of the same year. Shortly before its opening, the organizers canceled their invitation with reference to serious security concerns, and despite Vilks' effort no other Swedish art gallery offered to exhibit his drawings. Eventually, on 18 August, one of his drawings was published in the

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

-based regional newspaper, '' Nerikes Allehanda'', as part of an editorial on self-censorship and

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

,
Translation: and even though other leading Swedish newspapers had published the drawings before, it was this publication that led to protests from Muslim organizations in Sweden as well as condemnations from several foreign governments including

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

as well as by the inter-governmental

Organisation of the Islamic Conference An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

(OIC), which also called for the Swedish government to take "punitive actions" against Vilks. Following this controversy, Vilks was forced to live under police protection after having received several death threats, including a statement by the al-Qaeda-affiliated

Islamic State of Iraq The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ar, دولة العراق الإسلامية '), commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq ( ar, القاعدة في العراق '), is a militant Salafist jihadist group that aimed to establish an Islamic stat ...

which offered up to $150,000 for his assassination.

Assassination plot

In 2009, a failed plot to kill Vilks was hatched. Three U.S. citizens, Colleen LaRose, Mohammad Hassas Khalid, and Jamie Paulin Ramirez, participated in the plot. On 9 March 2010, LaRose's federal indictment was unsealed charging her with trying to recruit Muslims to murder Vilks. On the same day, seven people were arrested in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

over an alleged plot to assassinate Vilks. Police officers close to the investigation said those arrested were foreign-born Irish residents, mostly from

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and had refugee status. Of the seven, three men and two women were arrested in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

and

Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. With humble origins as a small fishing village, the area saw rapid development upon the arrival of the railway from Waterford City in 1853. Initially, the ...

, and another man and woman at

Ballincollig Ballincollig () is a suburban town within the administrative area of Cork city in Ireland. It is located on the western side of Cork city, beside the River Lee on the R608 regional road. In 2016 it was the largest town in County Cork, at wh ...

, near Cork. Garda Síochána (the Irish police force), which conducted the arrests with support from the National Support Services and the

counter-terrorist Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

Special Detective Unit , headquarters = Harcourt Street, Dublin (D2) , formed = as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) , preceding1 = Garda Special Branch , preceding2 = , jurisdiction = Ireland , employees = Undisclosed~ 300 , budget = Undisclosed ...

, said the suspects ranged in age from mid 20s to late 40s. The Irish police added that throughout the investigation they had been "working closely with law enforcement agencies in the United States and in a number of European countries".

Violent attacks

On 11 May 2010, Muslim protesters assaulted Vilks while he was giving a lecture about

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

. The attacks started when a film about Islam and homosexuality (the video depicts images of topless men, including one brief image of two fully clothed men kissing, all interspersed with Islamic imagery) was shown and some Muslims began to demand that the film be stopped, saying it was gay porn. The film in question was Iranian artist Sooreh Hera's ''Allah ho Gaybar''. Vilks' eyeglasses were broken but he did not suffer any serious injuries, and was escorted to safety by security, while a few of the protesters were detained by police. Despite previous death threats, this was the first act of violence against Vilks. A few days later, on 15 May 2010, Vilks' house in southern Sweden was attacked by arsonists. They smashed the windows and threw in bottles of gasoline. There was a small fire, but the house was not burned to the ground. Vilks was not at home at the time of the attack. Two Kosovar-Swedish brothers were arrested, and on 15 July they were sentenced to two and three years, respectively, of imprisonment. On 24 November 2010, a video produced by the Somali Islamic terrorist organization Al-Shaabab was sent out. In the video, a Swedish speaking voice appeals to "all the Somali brothers and sisters" in Sweden, to leave that country and come to Somalia to fight for Al-Shabaab. He announced a death threat against Vilks. On 11 December 2010, a suicide bomber in Stockholm said in a message to media and the Swedish Security Police that "Now will your children, daughters and sisters die the same way our brothers and sisters die. Our actions will speak for themselves. As long as you don't end your war against Islam and degradation against the prophet and your foolish support for the pig Vilks."

Al-Qaeda hit list

In 2010

Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone strik ...

published an Al-Qaeda hit list in ''Inspire'' magazine which included Vilks. In 2013, the list was expanded to include Stéphane "Charb" Charbonnier, who the Lars Vilks committee awarded their freedom prize to in 2014. When Charb was murdered in a terror attack on ''Charlie Hebdo'' in Paris, along with 11 other people, Al-Qaeda called for more cartoonists to be killed, The French cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier, killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, was on the same hit list and Vilks stepped up his security. Following the Charlie Hebdo attack, Vilks said that fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures amid increased security concerns.

14 February 2015 attack

At an event called ''Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression'', which was organized by Vilks at the

Krudttønden Krudttønden (meaning ''"The powder keg"'') is a café and local cultural centre at Østerfælled Torv in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Krudttønden is used for a wide array of cultural events, including theatre, concerts, debate ...

café in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, on 14 February 2015, an attack by a Muslim extremist with semi automatic gunfire, as a result of Vilks' drawings, left film director

Finn Nørgaard Finn Nørgaard (27 May 1959 – 14 February 2015) was a Danish filmmaker who was involved in several documentary and feature films. Education Nørgaard received a cand.phil. degree in Film and Communication from the University of Copenhagen i ...

dead and three police officers wounded. At least 30 bullet holes were visible in the window of the café. Participants at the event included speaker Niels Ivar Larsen and organizer Helle Merete Brix, the latter described the attack as having been targeted at Vilks. The suspect, acting alone, fled the scene and attacked a synagogue, killing a man. He was then identified by surveillance cameras and killed in gunfire with police the following day. Police believe the attack in Copenhagen may have been inspired by the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting. After the attack, Vilks went into hiding.

Free speech award

In March 2015, Vilks received the Sappho Award from the Danish Free Press Society. The award ceremony took place under tight security in the Parliament wing of Christiansborg Palace. It was Vilks's first public appearance since the 2015 February attack.

Death

Vilks died in a car crash on 3 October 2021, in

Markaryd Markaryd () is a locality and the seat of Markaryd Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden with 3,966 inhabitants in 2010. International relations Twin towns — Sister cities Markaryd is twinned with: * Bytów, Poland Poland, officia ...

, Sweden. He had been to

Stocksund Stocksund () is an upper class suburb in Metropolitan Stockholm, Sweden. Located immediately across the Edsviken and Stocksundet from Bergshamra, Stocksund is one of four parts of Danderyd Municipality north of Stockholm, which is the most ...

to meet and eat dinner with his friend, journalist Stina Lundberg Dabrowski. He was on his way home travelling in an unmarked police car with two police officers at the time their car crashed into a large truck and caught fire. The two police officers from the South Region bodyguard group also died.

Bibliography

* (1987) ''Konst och konster'' (in Swedish; dissertation),

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

: Wedgepress & Cheese, . * (1993) ''Att läsa Arx'' (in Swedish),

Nora Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...

: Nya Doxa, . * (1993) ''Arx : en bok om det outsägliga'' (in Swedish), Nora: Nya Doxa, . * (1994) ''Nimis och Arx'' (in Swedish), Nora: Nya Doxa, . * (1995) ''Konstteori : kameler går på vatten'' (in Swedish), Nora: Nya Doxa, . * (1999) ''Det konstnärliga uppdraget? : en historia om konsthistoria, kontextkonst och det metafysiska överskottet'' (in Swedish), Nora: Nya Doxa, . * (2002) ''T.O.A. : eori om allting' (in Swedish), Malmö: Galleri 21, . * (2003) ''Myndigheterna som konstnärligt material : den långa historien om Nimis, Arx, Omfalos och Ladonien'' (in Swedish), Nora: Nya Doxa, (hardback). * (2004) ''Spartips : 34 tips för konstnärer, kommuner, vissa obemedlade samt underbetalda'' (in Swedish), Nora: Nya Doxa, . * (2005) ''Hur man blir samtidskonstnär på tre dagar : handbok med teori'' (in Swedish; co-author: Martin Schibli), Nora: Nya Doxa, . * (2011) ''ART: den institutionella konstteorin, konstnärlig kvalitet, den internationella samtidskonsten''. Nora: Nya Doxa,

References

External links

Homepage for Lars Vilks KommitteenLars Vilks' blog (in Swedish)wordpress.com blog (in Swedish)Vilks' profile (in Swedish)
Svenskakonstnärer.se. Retrieved 6 January 2014. *
Lars Vilks' drawing of MohammadPhoto of Lars Vilks
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilks, Lars 1946 births 2010s missing person cases 2021 deaths Bergen Academy of Art and Design faculty Conceptual artists Critics of Islam Formerly missing people Lund University alumni Male bloggers Micronational leaders Missing person cases in Sweden Anti-Islam sentiment in Sweden Oslo National Academy of the Arts faculty People from Helsingborg Road incident deaths in Sweden Swedish art historians Swedish bloggers Swedish expatriates in Norway Swedish male sculptors Swedish people of Estonian descent Swedish people of Latvian descent Swedish terrorism victims