Bid to deface Jackson art fails

Michael Jackson is facing allegations of child abuse in the US

A performance artist has been arrested in Germany after trying to spray blood on a sculpture of Michael Jackson.

Istvan Kantor tried to squeeze a capsule of blood onto Jeff Koons' Michael Jackson and Bubbles sculpture at Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof gallery.

But Kantor was apprehended by gallery attendants and only managed to spray blood onto an empty gallery wall.

The 55-year-old, filmed throughout the incident by his own film crew, faces trespass and property damage charges.

Kantor, also known as Monty Cantsin, was arrested following the incident, but released on Wednesday.

Family stigma

The performance artist has been banned from a number of galleries around the world, but was permitted entry to the Hamburger Bahnhof gallery because his own video installation was on display there.

The Flick Collection, currently showing at the gallery, has already attracted controversy in Germany.

Flick, the billionaire heir of a World War II-era arms supplier, is accused of trying to erase the stigma of his family's Nazi history by making his art collection public.

The connection prompted a protester to attack and damage one of the exhibits, days after the exhibition opened in September.