Council Preserves Banksy Murals

Graffiti removal teams in north London have been ordered to preserve work by guerrilla artist Banksy.

 

Islington council said the policy was in response to calls from residents for the murals not to be painted over.

One such painting in Martineau Road, called the Tate Gallery, has been repaired by council staff five times after being targeted by vandals.

Last month Tower Hamlets council said it would paint over all graffiti, including work by Banksy.

Islington council said it was listening to the requests of its residents.

 
Lucy Watt of Islington council said: "We take a very hard line on graffiti and remove it within 24 hours when it is reported to us.

 
"However, residents have been telling us Banksy is in a class of his own...and they don't want us to remove the work.

 
"Because of the quality and renown of Banksy's work in Islington many people want to see it preserved for as long as possible."

 
The council said if work by the controversial artist appeared on private property it was up to the owner whether it was removed or not.

A few super intelligent council workers from Bristol have painted over a £100,000 Banksy mural. The 25ft x 4ft design was covered over with black paint when the workers mistook the artwork for vandalism. Rightfully, locals are furious as the Bristol City Council was ordered to preserve all of Banksy's artwork. The mural was painted on the sides of garages at Albion Road, in Easton, Bristol, about ten years ago, and now, thanks to those few council workers, it's gone forever.

Banksy is a household name in England—the Evening Standard has mentioned him thirty-eight times in the past six months—but his identity is a subject of febrile speculation. This much is certain: around 1993, his graffiti began appearing on trains and walls around Bristol; by 2001, his blocky spray-painted signature had cropped up all over the United Kingdom, eliciting both civic hand-wringing and comparisons to Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Vienna, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Paris followed, along with forays into pranksterism and more traditional painting, but Banksy has never shed the graffitist’s habit of operating under a handle. His anonymity is said to be born of a desire—understandable enough for a “quality vandal,” as he likes to be called—to elude the police. For years now, he has refused to do face-to-face interviews.

The biggest auction yet of original works by graffiti artist Banksy has exceeded its estimated takings.
The 10 pieces and a print were expected to raise a maximum of £300,000 in total when they were sold in London at auction house Bonhams.

However, the works actually fetched £546,000 altogether.

The piece which generated most money was Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which depicted two policemen looking through binoculars and fetched £96,000.

The next most expensive work, Attack of the Badly Drawn Boy, raised £78,000.

Untitled, Rat and Sword went for the third-highest price of £64,800.

Bonhams said it had been expecting "standing room only" for some items at the sale.

Graffiti art by the acclaimed artist Banksy on streets in Tower Hamlets is to be painted over.
Stencilled artwork from the guerrilla artist can be seen on walls across London, but Tower Hamlets is the first council to treat them as vandalism.

The plan comes as 11 pieces of the artist's work go on sale on Wednesday.

Banksy, from Bristol, made his name with public art and subversive stunts. His works now sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The actress Angelina Jolie reportedly bought one of his works for more than £200,000.

In pictures: Banksy auction Click here