Tag: banksy
Builders DESTROY £500,000 bespoke Banksy artwork – and leave it in a skip
I convinced Banksy to make a special piece of art in my hometown – I was devastated when it was destroyed DAYS later
A STREET art super-fan who convinced Banksy to make a piece in his home town was left heartbroken when the work was accidentally destroyed by builders just days later.
Jacob Smith, 30, said he spent two years “badgering” the illusive street artist to stencil graffiti in Herne Bay, Kent.
Banksy’s Morning is Broken was inadvertently pulled down by workers and dumped in a skip[/caption]
The piece, which could be worth as much as £500,000, was inadvertently pulled down by workers and dumped in a skip after it appeared on the wall of a derelict farmhouse.
Earlier this month it emerged the piece – which could have sold for millions if still fully intact – was torn down by contractors who had no idea it was a genuine Banksy.
The remains of the mural, called Morning is Broken, have since been fished out of a nearby skip, but it is not known what will happen to the pieces of wall.
It showed a young boy opening curtains made of corrugated iron with a cat peering out of the 500-year-old building.
Banksy confirmed he was the creator of the piece in a post shared to Instagram just days later.
Now Mr Smith is set on keeping the piece in the seaside town where it was created, as “the work was done for a purpose – to benefit the town”.
He said: “I first emailed Banksy’s office two-years-ago on the off chance that he would do something in Herne Bay for an art festival I’m putting together.”
After emailing right up until the week before the art’s unfortunate end, he eventually got the response that his proposals would be put in front of the elusive artist.
But on March 14, he was shown an Instagram post of the crumbled building by his girlfriend.
Mr Smith said: “I felt disbelief and shock when I heard the news. I worked hard to make this happen – so I’m more heartbroken than most.
“I spent so long badgering him to do a piece – and now be has – but no one can see it.”
He believes it would be an “awful coincidence” if his emails were not the catalyst for the street-artist hitting Herne Bay.
The street-art collector and occasional dealer lives just 20 minutes from Blacksole Farm where the work, titled Morning is Broken, went up.
He hopes developers, Kitewood, will return the work to the town and display it for all to see.
Mr Smith estimates that after being restored, the art could be worth between £300,000 to £500,000.
He added: “It was created in Herne Bay – It should stay in Herne Bay.
“I still can’t believe he did a piece, and I am grateful for that, but I just want it to stay here.”
The Banksy lover is working on plans for the Kent Street Art Festival, where he wishes the restored painting will be showcased along with local talent, as well as his own collection of original hand sprayed placards by the famous artist from the 2003 anti-war march in London.
The whereabouts of the recent painting is still unknown, but contractors pulled broken remains out of the skip after realising it’s significance.
Shortly after, rumours that the man himself had been spotted at Blacksole Farm stirred after a mysterious chap in a bowler hat was seen.
The art is not the first Banksy to be taken apart in Kent, as his work in Margate was dismantled by Thanet District Council just hours after he claimed it, and is now being taken out of the wall by an Essex art gallery to be displayed at Dreamland.
Kitewood has been approached for comment.
Ukraine’s Banksy stamps feature art of Putin in judo match
Banksy Margate Valentine’s Day artwork to move to Dreamland
Council returns freezer taken from Banksy artwork after defending ‘necessary’ removal
Banksy urges people to shoplift from Guess after copyright row
Banksy unveils new street art in Ukraine as he paints girl gymnast on side of tower block bombed by Russia
BANKSY has made his mark in Ukraine after unveiling a painting of a gymnast on the side of a tower block bombed by Russia.
The anonymous graffiti artist shared images of his latest artwork on a wall of a destroyed building in Borodyanka – 35 miles from the capital Kyiv.
Banksy confirmed on his official Instagram he has been painting in Ukraine[/caption]
Graffiti of a woman waving a ribbon seen on the wall of a destroyed building in Irpin[/caption]
A painting of a child throwing a man on the floor on a wall in Borodyanka[/caption]
Three pictures on his official Instagram showed a woman in a leotard doing a handstand.
He captioned the post: “Borodyanka, Ukraine.”
Borodyanka was relentlessly bombed by Vladimir Putin’s troops at the start of the Ukraine war and many of the town’s buildings and apartment blocks have been reduced to giant piles of rubble.
Rumours of Banksy’s arrival in Ukraine started swirling on Friday after a painting of a child throwing a man to the floor in a judo outfit was spotted on a building in the same town.
Read more on Banksy
Photojournalist Ed Ram, who is in Ukraine working for photo agency Getty, snapped the image before Banksy confirmed he was in the country.
Ed said: “I wonder if it might be a Banksy or an imitation?
“Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was a black belt in judo, was removed from his position as honorary president of the International Judo Federation in May.”
The image was shared by Martyn Reed, an artist, who said: “It’s beginning to look like Banksy is in Ukraine.
Most read in News
“There was some debate when the first stencil appeared… expect to see more popping up in the coming days.”
A Banksy-style artwork also appeared in the nearby city of Irpin.
The image showed a woman in a leotard and a neck brace waving a ribbon.
Banksy’s post of his street art in Borodyanka has been liked by more than 800,000 fans, while nearly 10,000 have left comments.
Most read in The Sun
Thousands praised Banksy for the “amazing” artwork and Ukrainians thanked the British artist for “showing the world the tragedy” of the war.
One fan said: “I knew you would go there. I hoped you would go there. I wished you would go there. I prayed you would go there.
“And you did it. You did it right mister Banksy.”
Another wrote: “Until today, I just loved your art. Now I love you, whoever you are.”
A third commented: “Thank you for your art, which has always been inconvenient for society, but so important!
“You reminded everyone once again that the war continues, and the enemy of the world has not yet been defeated.”
A fourth said: “I can’t believe it! Such a stunning work. Thank you from all our hearts.”
It’s not the first time Banksy has ventured into war zones.
He has travelled to Palestine many times, painting near the huge wall built by the Israelis and then to open a guesthouse called The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem.
In the UK, he was also involved in supporting the Colston 4 – the four protesters accused of pushing the statue of Edward Colston into Bristol harbour in 2020.
Before the Ukraine painting, the most recent work on his Instagram was the t-shirt design that raised money for the four charged and then cleared with criminal damage.
In his home city of Bristol, he painted another in the Girl with a Red Balloon series in Barton Hill.
And he also painted “Aachoo” on the wall at the bottom of England’s steepest residential street in the city.
The identity of street artist Banksy has never been revealed despite his worldwide fame.
For years, he has created complex street art using the cover of darkness to keep his anonymity.
Although a lot of his art is produced in public places, he usually only reveals it’s his after it has appeared on his social media.
Read More on The Sun
He first burst into prominence in the early 1990s as a graffiti artist in the group DryBreadZ Crew.
Banksy has never been unmasked and it’s believed his refusal to reveal himself started as a way of avoiding prosecution for vandalism.
A series of Banksy murals have appeared in the town of Borodyanka[/caption]