[stender]

The Banksy in Church street Stoke Newington was painted over by the council today. What a bunch of T@%*$rs

[milkybinbags]

shame stokey has lost something so nice to look at.

[fuzzed]

Gutted Really wanted to go and see that and never got round to going.

[stender]

Apparently they were nice enough to do half a job.

[milkybinbags]

does anyone have a photo? i am actually that lazy that i haven't bothered walking the 5 minutes it would take me to get there... there was some crap bubble writing that appeared under it a couple of weeks ago after someone had lovingly restored it removing the silver writing here: www.flickr.com/photos/jadeeey/2326912805/

such a shame. my walk up church street won't be the same now.

[milkybinbags]

okay, so i realised i was being a complete lazy bastard and just walked up there.

they've done a really odd job on it, but now that it look this rough i imagine it'll be totally removed...

[stopki]

any one seen the gold barcode image @ old street roundabout

is this a new banksy

[gwenie]

Aug 28, 2009 11:33:59 GMT 1 stopki said:

any one seen the gold barcode image @ old street roundabout

is this a new banksy

Defiantly not IMO. Posted here urbanartassociation.com/index.cgi?board=streetartgallery&action=display&thread=30516&page=2

[fuzzed]

Yeah saw that barcode the other week, deffo not, it's really hard to make out from the road.

What on earth have they done to the banksy piece in stoke newington!? Looks rough as! I'll have to try and get a look before it disappears completely!

It's almost as if they were going to paint over it and someone shouted "you do realise that's a Banksy you're painting over" so they decided to go around it!!

[Daniel Silk]

www.hackneygazette.co.uk/content/hackney/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=HKYGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshkyg&itemid=WeED02%20Sep%202009%2017%3A21%3A02%3A033

"Hackney Council slammed after painting over Banksy in Stoke Newington

AN iconic stencil by street artist Banksy once celebrated by rock band Blur has been destroyed by Hackney Council.

Furious residents have accused town hall officers of vandalism after painting over the image.

The artwork had adorned the side of a block of flats in Stoke Newington Church Street for eight years until last Thursday.

Sofie Attrill, 50, the building's owner, was devastated to see workmen painting the wall black.

"I looked out the window and saw what they were doing, so I ran downstairs and I told them to stop.

"I was in floods of tears, but the guy was just smirking at me. I was screaming at him that he was trespassing because I was so upset.

"I suppose in my naivety we thought it would always be part of Stoke Newington and the street.

"One of the first things you see when you walk down Church Street is the Banksy. It gave thousands of people a lot of joy and we had people from around the world coming to photograph it.

"If Banksy wants to come back and cheer us all up, then we would welcome something fun," she added.

Emily Thomas, who lives opposite, added: "It's a huge shame that the council has vandalised the Banksy.

"What was so special about it was that even though Banksy has become so famous, the owner of the building hadn't cashed in like others have, seen it as an investment and covered it with Perspex. She had left it there, as it was, for people to enjoy and take photos.

"It's bizarre that after so many years the council has suddenly decided to remove it. They have created an eyesore in doing so.

"How could anyone think it's a good idea to paint the whole side of a building black?"

The Stoke Newington Banksy showed a spoof version of the Royal Family and was featured as the cover artwork for Blur's 2003 single, Crazy Beat.

The council refuses to differentiate between street art and graffiti.

Cllr Alan Laing, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: "The council's position is not to make a judgement call on whether graffiti is art or not. Our task is to keep Hackney's streets clean.

"This cleanliness is judged by the government on a number of factors including levels of graffiti."

The council said it had sent three letters to Ms Attrill asking her to cover up or remove the graffiti. It later discovered she had not received the correspondence because the address was wrong in the Land Registry."

[bazzj04]

What a shame , great piece too, you would think with all the recent hype surrpound B that it would have been left . hmmm Tw@ts indeed

[doublehelix]

Oh, well done Hackney Council, that's a real f..k..g improvement!

[fuzzed]

Looks fucking shit. What gives them the right to paint someone elses building.

[wizzy]

Shame.

[bazzj04]

Surely that is like someone walking up to my houes and painting over it ?. how or why is this possible .??

[wizzy]

Some jobsworth made the wrong decision i suppose, councils have allsorts of powers re. their environment, they usually only hear what they want to.

[bazzj04]

True true , see i can understand if it was a eyesore, (not the artist) but this was a nice piece looked great, And defo added something to the area , Real shame that it is gone , id be angry if it was my building , but also i probably would have tried to have it pretected by now , covered in perspex , i know this is not as was intended but if precausions are not taken then things get defaced removed etc etc ,,

[buffin]

I bet they had the right address to send the property owner their council tax bill. Hope she sues them big time.

Cllr Alan Laing talks absolute rubbish. The council make decisions on all sorts of things day in and day out. Hackney's lose is Bristol's gain.

[doublehelix]

Here's what it used to look like:

[wizzy]

I would think that if she can prove she never received the letters from the council then the council are liable and she has a case, problem would be how would she or her legal team value the work damaged though?.

[Curley]

I agree it a shame esp as its on Private property however after reading that story
im sure that Banksy will be drawn back to that nice clean wall as moth is to a light bulb.

[Sundowner]

Sept 3, 2009 13:38:48 GMT 1 Curley said:

I agree it a shame esp as its on Private property however after reading that story
im sure that Banksy will be drawn back to that nice clean wall as moth is to a light bulb.

Let's all hope so!!!!

[Daniel Silk]

Trouble is everyone will be watching that wall like a hawk looking for any scaffolding of activity. Not gonna be easy for Banksy or any other artists to do a piece there without being noticed.

[Wearology]

Once your art is in a museum legally - you achieve a new level of status - Banksy can now get permission to paint the wall through his people much like Nick Walker did when he was in New York. The whole thing is quite ironic - the people in the article are accusing the city council of vandalism for covering up graffiti. Mr. B has won - g.d bless our leader Sir Banksy!!!!!!! The thrill of painting a wall in less than a minute at 3AM is gone - If you read his book WALL & PIECE it seems impossible for him to get any of the psychological satisfaction of being a degenerant he lusts for so bad.

[milkybinbags]

Sept 3, 2009 13:59:14 GMT 1 Daniel Silk said:

Trouble is everyone will be watching that wall like a hawk looking for any scaffolding of activity. Not gonna be easy for Banksy or any other artists to do a piece there without being noticed.

i reckon it'll be pretty impossible for anyone to do anything there without being noticed, church street is busy 24/7

[dandb]

That one was well funny -shame!

[shaunyboy]

www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/03/banksy-artwork-painted-over-hackney

Council officials have painted over a Banksy graffiti sketch that was used by the band Blur as the cover artwork for their 2003 single Crazy Beat.

The artwork – a cartoon of the royal family waving from a balcony – had been left untouched on the side of a block of flats in Stoke Newington, east London, for eight years before Hackney council intervened last week.

Officials removed the sketch by Banksy – whose works have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds – as his largest exhibition to date, in Bristol, prepared to close. The exhibition has attracted over 300,000 visitors since 13 June, raising £45,000 in museum donations, and is estimated to have been worth £10m to the local economy.

Banksy vs Bristol Museum featured more than 100 works of art. The notoriously secretive artist was reported to have been secretly adding new installations to the exhibition by night.

A Stoke Newington blogger known only as Kris broke the news of the artwork's removal.

She reported that council workers said they had told their employers about the importance of the artwork. "We knew it was a Banksy, love. It's a Stoke Newington landmark; we know that. We told them, but they wouldn't listen," wrote Kris.

The owner of the building, Sophie Attrill, told the Hackney Gazette that she was devastated when she saw the wall being painted.

"I looked out the window and saw what they were doing, so I ran downstairs and I told them to stop," said Attrill.Hackney council said it tried to contact Attrill before ordering the artwork to be painted over, but notices asking her to remove or cover up the piece had not reached her address due to the Land Registry having the incorrect contact details.

Alan Laing, the Hackney council cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said the council removed all graffiti regardless of artistic value.

"Hackney council does not make a judgment call on whether graffiti is art or not, our task is to keep Hackney's streets clean. We made four attempts to contact the owner of the property to inform her of our intention to remove the graffiti," said Laing.

"We are now speaking with her about how to resolve the issue."

It's not the first time Banksy has had his street art removed by authorities. In October last year Westminster city council removed a mural from Newman Street in central London after the deputy council leader, Robert Davis, said keeping it would be "condoning" graffiti.

In 2007 a piece showing a monkey preparing to blow up a bunch of bananas at Waterloo station in London was painted over by staff.

[shaunyboy]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8238896.stm

Blur Banksy is ruined by mistake


A mural by graffiti artist Banksy, which once featured on the cover of a single by rock band Blur, has been painted over by Hackney Council.

The spoof image of the Royal Family, painted on the side of a building in Stoke Newington, east London, was partially covered with black paint.

The building's owner was in tears as she begged workmen to stop. By the time she persuaded them it was almost gone.

Hackney Council said the image was painted over in error.

Property owner Sofie Attrill gave consent for the mural to be painted on the building so it could be photographed for the launch of Blur's 2003 single Crazy Beats.

Since then it has attracted tourists from all over the world and become a local landmark.


We never wanted to make money out of it like many do - but it was a part of our lives. Now it's gone
Sofie Attrill, building owner

Ms Attrill, 50, a property manager who lives in the building, said workmen used rollers to cover it in black paint.

She said: "The workmen were smiling as they did it - they thought it was funny.

"I just burst into tears. But a crowd gathered and we managed to get them to stop before destroying it completely."

Hackney Council needed permission to remove the mural because it was on private property.

But its letters were sent to an address Ms Attrill lived at 25 years ago.

After receiving no response the council served an enforcement notice.

Ms Attrill continued: "I don't care about art or politics - I am just an ordinary girl who liked being cheered up by seeing this on my street.

Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn's Blur commissioned the piece in 2003

"People have always been telling us to sell it or cover it in Perspex, but we only wanted it to be here for the public's enjoyment.

"You can't take a photo if it's behind a thick plastic screen."

She continued: "We never wanted to make money out of it like many do - but it was a part of our lives. Now it's gone.

"People are always doing down Hackney but this was something we could all be proud of."

Hackney Council was initially unrepentant.

Cllr Alan Liang said: "The council's position is not to make a judgement call on whether graffiti is art."

But he later added: "Due to a problem at the land registry unfortunately our letters stating our intention to clean this building didn't reach the owner.

"As soon as we realised this, work stopped. We are now speaking with her about how to resolve the issue."

[Deleted]

So do you think Banksy will go back and give them something new? As they seem happy for something to stay and is well placed.

[digitalkid]

This sums up councils all over the country..