Works by Banksy damaged or destroyed

This list is of works of guerilla art by Banksy removed from their original locations or otherwise damaged or destroyed.

Contents 1 Removed from their original locations 2 Concealed and/or defaced 3 Demolished 4 See also 5 References

Removed from their original locations

• Cave art hoax with accompanying exhibit label, hung on a wall in the British Museum, removed after two or three days and subsequently accessioned; in 2005.^[1]

• Two works jetwashed away and a third work, of a boy holding a stereo and a teddy bear, the subject of legal action opposing its ablation by Hackney Council in order 'to keep streets clean', in Dalston, London; in 2009.^[2]

• Rat, stolen from an electricity meter box outside the home of a well-known underwear designer in Melbourne, claimed to be by Banksy; the authenticity of this work was questioned, with some calling it a fake; in 2010.^[3]

• Mickey Mouse-inspired 'Livin' the Dream', removed from Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles and destroyed; in 2011.^[4]

• Mural entitled 'Caution', detached from a wall in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles; in 2011.^[5]

Concealed and/or defaced

• In March 2007 one of Banksy's early pieces, a 25ft-long artwork featuring a collection of blue shapes with the artist's trademark tag, on the side of garages in Albion Road, Easton, Bristol, was mistakenly painted over by graffiti-removal contractors Nordic. They had been asked by Bristol City Council to tackle graffiti adjacent to the Banksy work, but wrongly targeted the piece itself. Within days someone sprayed the words "Wot no Banksy?" over the contractors' plain paintwork.^[6]

• In April 2007 Banksy's famous 2002 piece depicting John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson's Pulp Fiction characters pointing bananas instead of guns, on a wall near Old Street tube station in London, was painted over by London Transport workmen despite having an estimated value of more than £300,000 at the time. Asked to comment on the mural's destruction, a Transport for London spokesman said "Our graffiti removal teams are staffed by professional cleaners not professional art critics."^[7]

• In April 2007 a four year old wall mural 25ft long in Cato Street, Easton, Bristol, marketed for sale with its attached house (at 21 Milvart Street) thrown in for free via a local gallery, was defaced with red paint. Celebrities had previously expressed interest in buying the work, and the gallery owner announced her intention to e-mail Banksy to see if he would restore the work.^[8]

• In November 2007 a mural of a policeman stopping and searching a young girl in Glastonbury, created in connection with the Glastonbury Festival, was whitewashed over.^[9]

• 'The Little Diver' or 'Diving Bell', previously protected with perspex by the council, incensing many street artists, covered with silver paint and the slogan 'Bansky woz ere', in Melbourne; in 2008.^[10][11]

• Piece usually described as 'Naked man hanging from a window' on the side of Brook Sexual Health Clinic^[12] in Park Street, Bristol, and voted for retention by 93% of the public in a 2006 council poll, spattered with blue paint in an overnight paint bomb attack on 22 June 2009.^[13]

• Mural of the British Royal Family, featured on the cover of a single by Blur, accidentally painted over by workmen employed by Hackney Council, London, in September 2009.^[14]

• Parachuting Rat, last surviving example of Banksy's Melbourne street art, accidentally painted over by council contractors in March 2010.^{[15] [16]}

• In February 2011 a mural behind Westwood Village Urban Outfitters in Westwood Village, Los Angeles, depicting a child holding a machine gun loaded with coloured crayons, was defaced with black paint^[17] just days before the 83rd Academy Awards for which his documentary film Exit Through The Gift Shop had been nominated.

• A Banksy piece drawn in October 2010 around an extractor fan on the Grosvenor Hotel in Torquay, depicted a child drawing a robot. Within a week the owners announced plans to cover it with protective perspex amid newspaper speculation that it had increased the value of the property by £150,000.^[12] Vandals smashed the perspex screen on 31 May 2011 to attack the mural with paint stripper, removing the child.^[18]

• On 6 July 2010, 'Gorilla with Pink Face Mask' in Fishponds Road, Eastville, Bristol, was painted over by new owners of the building^[19] - by sheer coincidence on the same day that Bristol Zoo Gardens celebrated its 175th anniversary with "Wow! Gorillas", an event placing decorated life-size gorillas around the city for 10 weeks.^[20]

• In October 2011, Banksy's 'Sniper' on Upper Maudlin Street was vandalised with black spray paint. It is not yet known who is responsible for this, or why.

• In 2011 a Banksy work in Boston's Chinatown was graffitied and partially painted over.

Demolished

• 'The New Pollution' in St Werburghs, Bristol, was knocked down in 2006 by developers in order to build a new block of flats.^[21]

• 'No Loitrin' on Essex Street in Cambridge, MA; removed by sandblasting.

See also

• Iconoclasm
• Banksy
• Parachuting Rat (Banksy)

References