When U.S. President, Donald Trump and British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson appear alongside each other in the media, you can not help but think of the 15-foot tall Kiss of Death mural painted by The Paintsmiths in Stokes Croft, Bristol back in May 2016.
Inspired by Dmitri Vrubel’s 1990 Berlin Wall graffiti piece titled, ‘My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love’, the artwork of Trump and Johnson in a passionate embrace was painted by the group of master craftsmen, commissioned by the pro-EU group We Are Europe to create the visual statement that caught the attention of 660 million people world wide.
Felix ‘FLX’ Braun, author of the ‘Children of the Can’ books, was one of the contributing artists who painted Kiss of Death on the side of The Carriageworks building, in place of the ‘The Quickly Burning House’ by the Clandestinos Crew’s, Brunosmoky – some of which can still be seen surrounding the 2016 mural.
More often than not pinned for their similarities, the pair of political leaders have overwhelmingly lived up to the prophecy of the pro-EU group. Back then, We Are Europe spokesperson Harriet Kingaby had egged the public on saying, “People need to look at this image and think, ‘is this the future I want’?”
Johnson has not always been as smitten as Trump, in the past referring to the president as “unfit” for the job and “out of his mind.” Regardless of the political dramatics, Trump seems quite pleased to be riding the coattails of the Brexit breakdown, as in late July this year he remarked, “They’re saying Britain Trump. They call him Britain Trump and people are saying that’s a good thing. They like me over there. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they need.”