'Stolen' Banksy mural withdrawn from sale at U.S. auction house following storm of protest

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Daily Mail

'Stolen' Banksy mural withdrawn from sale at U.S. auction house following storm of protest as mysterious new graffiti appears in its place.



A Banksy mural which was controversially ripped from the wall of a north London shop has been withdrawn from sale at an auction in Miami, it emerged this evening.

Slave Labour, which shows a young boy hunched over a sewing machine making Union Jack bunting, appeared on the wall in Wood Green, north London, last May, just before the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

It disappeared from the side of the Poundland store last weekend and was due to be auctioned thousands of miles away in Miami this evening.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283475/Stolen-Banksy-mural-withdrawn-sale-U-S-auction-house-following-storm-protest-mysterious-new-graffiti-appears-place.html#ixzz2LleBqigK
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283475/Stolen-Banksy-mural-withdrawn-sale-U-S-auction-house-following-storm-protest-mysterious-new-graffiti-appears-place.html

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Missing wall section was refinished and then this appeared :

[secondvariety]

1. Interesting.

How does one go about "stealing" a five foot by five foot section of a block wall? You'd think someone would notice.

[McCamy Taylor]

2. Maybe dressed as repairmen, with the mural covered so it just looks like construction work?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Behind tarpaulin (which is, I believe, how Banksy usually works)

Councillor Strickland said residents noticed scaffolding go up around the store last Wednesday.

"The scaffolding and tarpaulins came down on Friday, and on Saturday residents noticed that, where the Banksy had been, there was now a hole in the wall."

The chain said it was not responsible for "either selling or removing the Banksy mural," saying it did not own the building.

The owners of the property have been traced, and Haringey council is trying to contact them to establish whether the work was taken legitimately.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21497261

[dipsydoodle]

4. All that was really necessary here

was for the sale to ahead and then Banksy deny it was a piece of his work.

[GReedDiamond]

7. Why would, or should, Banksy deny his art as being his?

That is most definitely not "all that was really necessary here" in addressing the problem of unethical art dealers appropriating public artworks under questionable circumstances, and selling them for massive profits.

[dipsydoodle]

8. He gives his work freely

Not for commercial gain.

[GReedDiamond]

12. He also sells his work...

...I was at his show in Los Angeles several years ago, he did very well for himself.

He was not giving the work away "freely."

[NoodleyAppendage]

5. I don't see what the big deal is

The artwork, while cool, is graffiti by definition. If the person who removed it owned the building, then technically it was theirs to do with it what they will. It was better that they removed it for sale than to just paint over it.

And, I would add that the removal has had the secondary benefit of the appearance of even more apparent Bansky work!

[SwissTony]

10. As I read it, they didn't just remove the graffiti.

They removed the wall!!!

Apart from stealing the bricks and mortar, there's also a danger of collapse.

[Exultant Democracy]

6. I always guess Banksy is behind it, anytime he is in the news.

[frylock]

13. not in this case. not his style.

[Exultant Democracy]

15. 'stealing' his own art to sell it. It seems like his style of guerrilla self publicity

he has pulled stunts in the past that remind me of this in more then a few ways perhaps just a coincidence, but this is definitely his modus operandi.

[idwiyo]

9. "Frederic Thut, owner of Fine Art Auctions Miami" should have contacted Banksy himself and asked

if he sold that piece of his work to "well known collector, who is not British". They well damn knew how extremely unlikely it was. Greedy bastards accepted stolen goods from a criminal in hope of collecting huge fee. It would be really funny though if Banksy identifies it as fake.
Would serve them right with their reputation going down the drain and I'd love to watch a fight between auction house and "well known collector"

[Earth_First]

11. This.

I would love to see this happen. Not because I'd like to see someone fail, but these auction houses need to be knocked down a peg.

[frylock]

14. i don't think one just contacts Banksy..

this guy does an amazing job of keeping himself incognito. check out 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' if you haven't already.

[idwiyo]

16. One contacts his agent. I'd think an art gallery would at least attempt to verify that artwork was

really Banksy and at the bare minimum try to contact them. Please see below:

http://www.pestcontroloffice.com/whatispco.html

Pest Control is a handling service acting on behalf of the artist BANKSY.

We answer enquiries and determine whether he was responsible for making a certain piece of artwork and issue paperwork if this is the case. This process does not make a profit and has been set up to prevent innocent people from becoming victims of fraud.
...

SALES
Pest Control is now the sole point of sale for new work by Banksy, of which there is currently something/nothing available.
...