Five-storey blue penis mural erected on a building in Stockholm
Yet another giant penis mural has popped up. Now, there's a sentence you weren't expecting to read.
You might recall an enormous pink penis appeared on the side of a building in Broome St. in New York City on Christmas Eve—only to be painted over days later. This time the five-storey-high turgid penis is bright blue and painted on the side of a building in Kungsholmen island, Stockholm, Sweden.
Swedish artist Carolina Falkholt is the creator of both penis murals. Her most recent work in her native Sweden is entitled "Fuck the World".
But, this absolutely enormous phallus will have a similar fate to that of its New York City counterpart. Following complaints from neighbours, the mural will be painted over a mere week after being erected last Wednesday.
Atrium Ljungberg, the company that manages the street, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that they intended to "respect neighbours' opinions".
"Culture and art are important in developing interesting urban environments," said Camilla Klimt, marketing manager at Atrium Ljungberg. "Of course, we care about artistic freedom. But at the same time, we must respect neighbours’ opinions."
Indeed, the penis mural has caused quite the stir in the area, it seems. Banners reading "keep your penis inside" have been fixed to the mural.
Prior to the announcement that the mural would be painted over, Falkholt told the Guardian that she believed the mural would be allowed to stay in Stockholm.
"I think perhaps it will be allowed to remain here, people will get the message and let it take its place in the debate," she told the Guardian. "I think there’s more intellectual space to discuss the subject, in a nuanced way."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
