An artist is suing FIFA for $25 million after someone painted over his mural on a building in downtown Dallas before the World Cup. Robert Wyland hand-painted the massive mural, which stretched over 17,000 square feet across two walls of a structure.
Wyland, who goes by only his last name, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Dallas on Monday, claiming that the building’s owner, management company, and World Cup organizers covered his mural without his permission or even notifying him. He claims that by doing this, they broke the federal Visual Artists Rights Act, which protects specific types of visual art.
The lawsuit claims that 3PZ Property Company LLC, Slate Asset Management, and the current building owners gave FIFA permission to “destroy” and paint over the mural. Wyland contends that the owner’s approval was necessary for the painting to take place.
The lawsuit states that by May 18, someone had painted over the majority of the mural in blue. Wyland’s lawsuit also claims the defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” and “defaced an historic fixture of the host city.”
A representative for Slate Asset Management told WFAA News that in March, Downtown Dallas Inc. and the North Texas FIFA World Cup organizing committee asked them to donate the wall for a new public art mural created by a local Dallas artist. According to the spokeswoman, local partners informed Wyland that Slate was not receiving any payment for using the wall space.
According to the Dallas Morning News, work on the World Cup mural was halted after a cease-and-desist order was issued.
FIFA responds to $25 million lawsuit by artist
When reached for comment on the lawsuit, FIFA replied in a statement, writing, “FIFA has no involvement in this whatsoever and refers all inquiries on this matter to the host city committee.” The North Texas FIFA World Cup organizing committee had no comment on the lawsuit..
“In their zeal to capitalize on the international attention on Dallas during the FIFA World Cup, Defendants hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark,” the lawsuit claims. “Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city.”
According to the Wyland Foundation website, the eight-story painting “Ocean Life” was formally dedicated in 1999. The mural was the 82nd in a series of 100 “whaling walls.”