Banksy is no stranger to seeing his work vandalised having over the years witnessed many of his pieces either completely ruined or cut out of the walls they were placed and sold off to the highest bidder.
The most recent piece to be defaced is the ‘Mild, Mild West’ located in Bristol. This piece was recently voted Bristol’s favourite alternative landmark and had been ear marked to be protected against future developments in the area.
A group calling themselves ‘Appropriate Media’ have taken responsibility for the vandalism and have released a statement saying. ‘People only care because it’s a Banksy’
London had seen the brunt of these attacks with both of his most recent murals being vandalised.
Other artists to attack Banksy’s work includes street taggers Tox, Cut and 10 foot and the legendary vigilante from New Orleans Gray Ghost.
Gray Ghost is a very well know activist against graffiti in New Orleans and has been painting over graffiti with the same shade of grey paint since 1997.
Banksy on a visit to New Orleans last year made a very clear statement of how he feels about people painting over his work by aiming many of the street pieces he created out there at Gray Ghost, mocking him in the process.
The natural evolution of a street piece means that they will not last forever but that is part and parcel of them being put up in the first place. They are not going to be permanent but will change over time.
Let’s hope that this recent attack on one of Banksy’s most famous pieces in his own city will see him come back out of hiding and produce something that will show his haters exactly why he is regarded as the best in the business.
Image Credits:
Slide Show 1: www.bbc.co.uk
Slide Show 2: www.wildstylers.com
Image 3: http://blog.nola.com/jamesgill/
